Playing House
by six-sides-of-the-dice
Summary: While helping to try out a new class project for their school's curriculum, May, Misty, Leaf, and Dawn find themselves living alone in a beautiful house with no adults, no rules, and best of all; freedom. The only catch? They have to share the house with Drew, Ash, Gary, and Paul.
1. Chapter 1

**Playing House**

Summary: While helping to try out a new class project for their school's curriculum, May, Misty, Leaf, and Dawn find themselves living alone in a beautiful house with no adults, no rules, and best of all; freedom. The only catch? They have to share the house with Drew, Ash, Gary, and Paul.

Chapter One

May brushed her chestnut-colored hair out of her eyes, and blinked her sapphire blue eyes at the sight before her, completely forgetting about the door she had ruthlessly swung open and barged through moments ago. As her gaze wandered around the interior design, a clean, polished looking wooden floor was presented to her, and to her right she spotted a nice marble-countered kitchen. Behind the kitchen area, she spotted three leather couches arranged around a decently sized flatscreen TV. In the center of the affore-mentioned furniture sat a long coffee table which had been placed on top of a red and beige oriental rug. To her direct left was an area that consisted of an open closet filled with hangers for people's coats, as well as an open door that revealed stairs that headed down into the basement. Further on into the seemingly massive house, May could spot another staircase that slowly winded up to what would seem to be a second floor, while another hallway on the floor she was currently standing on led to the left to what she guessed to be bedrooms. Finally, at the very back of this house was a clear glass door, which revealed a pool just beyond the transparent door.

May's mouth gaped open at the, in her opinion, luxurious house in which her and her friends would be occupying for the next week. Speaking of her friends…

"Move aside!" She was pushed aside as a flash of brilliant blue eyes and a torrent of blue hair passed by her only to halt at the sight of their temporary home. "Whoa…"

"Dawn, you're just as bad as May!" scolded a red-headed girl as she and her luggage finally trudged up the stairs that led to the door. Her complaints about her friends' hastiness were soon forgotten however, as her cerulean blue eyes caught sight of the pool that May had seen earlier through the glass door and began to twinkle.

"Well sorry Misty, but you gotta admit, this place looks even better on the inside than when we saw it on the outside!" giggled Dawn, twirling a lock of dark blue hair around her finger as she set her pink suitcase down.

"Hey guys, don't forget about me!" a voice panted, out of breath and with a slight whine to it.

May, Misty and Dawn spun around to see the last member of their party, Leaf, as she stumbled her way up the stairs carrying a giant heap of bags and suitcases. How she managed to make it that far was a mystery to everyone.

"Leaf!" May exclaimed. "Why did you bring so much luggage with you for this?"

The girl smiled sweetly. "I _didn't_, but it seems SOME people forgot to bring their extra luggage from the back of the car when they all ditched their poor friend to deal with their bags while_ they_ went to go see the house."

The last of her words had resounding sarcasm to it, as she flipped her hair around dramatically as if to prove a point. Misty sweatdropped as the the other two giggled nervously.

Leaf heaved the more-than-fair-share pile of luggage into the house and closed the door before gazing around at her surroundings with sharp, green eyes. "Nice place…that is, for a school project."

The other three girls nodded in agreement, their thoughts turning back to how they had ended up in this arrangement in the first place.

* * *

"Alright class," their Family Studies teacher Roxanne announced. "Today I have some important news for you that involves a potential extra credit assignment."

The class quieted down and students scurried to their seats, back from visiting with friends in the same class. May sat down in her seat and swiveled around in her chair to face Misty. "Do you know what's going on?"

Misty shrugged and shook her head, but before she could say anything else, the teacher brought their attention up front again.

"Now, our school has decided to add a new assignment to our curricular guidelines for next year, but we thought that we should try this on some of our students from this year before officially adding it to our lists of class assignments."

The class murmured amongst themselves, anticipating what the new project was going to be. Leaf leaned over her desk and whispered to May.

"Oh great, more work for us poor students." She sighed, although extra work was no big deal for her as she found projects to be quite simple.

May grimaced in agreement with her statement while Dawn, who'd caught the piece of conversation, nodded on her right, as the teacher began to speak again.

"This assignment we are debating is very hands on, and it will be assigned to the 4 top marks from each of the Family Studies classes."

May tilted her head in inquiry before remembering that there was, in fact, another Family Studies class that took part in another class period. _The one grasshead's in._ May thought, furrowing her brow at the mere thought of her grassy-headed rival.

"Anyhow, I will announce the top four from this class," Roxanne concluded. May, Misty, Dawn, and almost everyone else in the class immediately turned in their chairs to look at Leaf, who looked around before blushed and studying her pencil. Leaf was known for being at the top of all her classes, and so everyone automatically knew she'd be in the top four from the class. Roxanne raised an eyebrow before continuing on listing off the names.

"Leaf Green."

Leaf exhaled and sat back in her seat as she was finally relieved of the knowing stares from around the classroom.

"Misty Waterflower."

The red-head lifted her head from where it rested on her arms in brief surprise, before accepting the acknowledgement and setting her chin back down on her crossed arms.

"May Maple."

Said girl raised an eyebrow but didn't question it. _So Leaf's tutoring paid off after all._

"And the last name is…Dawn Berlitz."

Dawn sat up straight at beamed, glad she wasn't left out of this assignment that her best friends would be taking part in.

"If the four of you could stay behind when the bell rings, I'll give you the information about your project as well as the assignment papers."

May's stomach sighed at the thought of missing a part of lunch, but she quickly silenced it as she was actually quite curious on what project they'll be doing. She exchanged quick glances with her friends right as the bell rang, signaling the end of class and the beginning of lunch. The four girls gathered up their books and bags before walking up to their teacher's desk.

Roxanne sifted through a pile of papers on her desk before locating a folder containing an assortment of papers.

"Here you go girls," she announced as she passed the folder over to Misty who immediately opened it up. "You'll find all the information you'll need in there, and make sure you read over everything carefully. The project will start tomorrow, which is Tuesday and will last two weeks. Oh, and the other four students will meet up with you tomorrow as well, so expect them."

Roxanne removed her reading glasses before grabbing her bag from under her chair and walking out of the door for her lunch break. Unknown to her, her last few sentences were gone unheard by the four friends, as they were busy trying to make sense of the information in the packet they'd just received.

"So it says here…" Misty muttered to herself, reading out loud the project guideline sheet. "'The purpose of this project is to stimulate what it's like to be grown up and living as adults with the responsibilities and lifestyle that comes with living on your own.'"

"Okay…" Dawn murmured. "But what's the actual assignment?"

May, not wanting to wait any longer, snatched the papers from Misty and quickly scanned over them. And then did a double take.

The other girls immediately crowded around the papers after seeing her expression. They all scanned over the same page and their reactions varied from raised eyebrows to gasps of disbelief.

"So for the project, we're living alone…" Leaf said, wide-eyed.

"…with no adults…" May continued.

"…no rules…" Misty spoke up.

"…and freedom!" Dawn finished, disbelief evident in her voice.

Slowly, eyes met eyes, smiles began to show, and soon all four friends were gabbing with each other on how great the assignment was going to be.

* * *

The same thrill May had felt before on the idea of living alone in a house with her three best friends for two weeks returned, as she gathered up her previously dropped luggage. Looking around at her friends, she could tell they felt the same way.

"So…what now?" Dawn asked, looking around.

Misty pulled out the folder of information they had received from their teacher and walked over to the kitchen counters to spread the sheets out on the counter. May, Dawn, and Leaf followed her and together they looked over the papers. There were sheets of questions on responsibilities, as well as a calendar with certain marked events on it. Suddenly, a sheet of paper caught May's attention. Taking a closer look, she realized it was a blueprint of the house they were currently in. There appeared to be four rooms; two upstairs and two on the main floor and each room had its own bathroom. Downstairs, there appeared to be not too much but a large room for recreational purposes and another bathroom.

Noticing May's captivated attention, the other girls were observing the blueprint as well. May grinned suddenly and thrust a hand at one of the rooms on the paper, one situated upstairs.

"I CALL THIS ROOM!" she shouted, before grabbing onto her luggage and zooming upstairs at breakneck speed.

Dawn, Misty and Leaf looked on in surprise, until they realized May had gotten a head start, and quickly ran off to claim their own rooms.

* * *

Well I have to admit, I'm new to this Fanfiction stuff, and this is my first story so sorry if it's not that great. I haven't watched any episodes of the show for a while now, so sorry if they are really out of character. Hopefully things'll improve as we go along. Reviews would be appreciated, and thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

May rustled around in her bed. It was their first night in the house, and May was having trouble getting accustomed to her new living arrangements. Finally, she just gave up and climbed out of bed. _Maybe a quick midnight snack will help me sleep better._

She slowly and cautiously made her was down the stairs, as to not wake her sleeping friends up, and then crept over to the kitchen area. Multiple pizza boxes were strewn around the kitchen counters as a reminder of their first supper in the house. Grabbing a slice of leftover cheese pizza from one of the boxes, May proceeded to lean against the counter while chewing on her midnight meal. Looking around the silent house, she watched the shadows of trees wisp around the floor and listened to the consistent ticks of the clock on the wall. Spacing out, she was unable to notice the car that pulled up to the house's driveway, and the figure that leapt out of the vehicle and started creeping up to the house. The shadowy figure made their way up the steps and proceeded to attempt to enter through the locked door.

The doorknob rustled. Inside, May felt her heart beginning to pump faster as she set down her half eaten slice of pizza and began to back away from the door. Her eyes widened in horror as she saw the lock on the door begin to slide into the unlocked position. _Oh my gosh, they're getting in! _Her left hand grasped around the area beside her frantically, looking for a proper weapon of choice. The hand found purchase on a metal pan sitting on the counter, and May positioned herself behind the door, determined to try and stop the intruder from successfully invading the house. All too suddenly, the door finally swung open and May jumped out from her spot ready to attack.

"YAH!" she cried, bringing her pan down on the intruder's head. The stranger fell, stunned, to the ground. May took this opportunity to quickly flick the lights on with the switch on the wall to her left, before preparing to attack again. Adrenaline pumped through her body as she brought her pan up, ready to swing once again. Then, she took a good look at her fallen opponent and immediately froze. "Drew?"

Her grassy-haired rival recognized her voice and scrambled up, holding his head while still slightly dazed. "May?"

May's eyes widened in horror as realization sank in. _Don't tell me I just hit my rival in the head with a frying pan!_ She rushed over to him, to his alarm, and grabbed his head and moving it close to her.

Drew raised an eyebrow, trying to keep his composure while May inspected his face. "What are you doing?"

May ignored his weirded out expression and began to babble, still horrified over what she'd done. "Are you okay? I'm sorry, I thought you were someone breaking into the house to try and murder us, or that you were a creepy pedophile, I didn't know you would be coming, wait why are you here? Anyway, lemme see your eyes…they don't look dilated so that's good, you probably don't have a concussion or anything, maybe you'll have a bump on your head but-wait, seriously, why are you here?"

Drew backed away from May, face flushed for an unknown reason, and flicked his hair, evidently no longer dazed from the frying pan assault. "Can't believe you thought I was breaking in. People who break in don't usually have a key…and don't tell me you forgot about how there's four other people coming to share the house with you."

May's eyes widened in realization, recalling information she'd spotted on one of the papers in the folder. Noticing this, Drew smirked again. "So you did forget. Shouldn't have expected otherwise from an airhead I guess."

Gritting her teeth, May glared at him. "I didn't forget, I just didn't realize it was you that was coming in. I mean, who would come in the middle of the night? We were supposed to come here right after school!"

Drew sweatdropped. "Well things came up, and we were slightly delayed…"

_We?_

As if on cue, two more boys trooped into the house while carrying their luggage. May's mouth dropped as she realized who they were.

"Man," a raven-haired boy sighed. "I'm so hungry…feels like it took ages get away from the crazy Hawaiians…"

_Crazy Hawaiians…?_

The other boy, who had spiky brown hair, slapped the other boy upside the head. Turning to May, he smirked. "Sorry May. Don't mind Ash, he's a little overtired."

"Don't forget about overhungry Gary." Ash whined. Spotting the leftover pizza boxes, his eyes lit up and he immediately dropped his suitcase to go and grab some food.

Drew rolled his eyes at his friend's actions, and turned back to Gary as May watched on, brain still processing. "Where's Paul?"

"Here," came a low grumble. The purple-haired teen walked into the house, carrying two suitcases and two bags. Setting down the black suitcases and the brown bag he was carrying, he hurled the other green bag at Drew's head. "Just had to conveniently forget your luggage in the car, didn't you?"

Drew managed to deflect the flying luggage with his arm. Smirking over at Paul, he cooed back in mock affection. "Thanks for carrying my luggage for me…_Paulie-bear._"

Paul glared hotly over at Drew for the use of the nickname which was as troublesome as the girl who'd given it to him. Drew snickered, and looked back over at May, who'd been standing speechless and unmoving the entire time. "So, airhead, where are our rooms?"

"Ummm…." May muttered looking away. Drew perked a brow, and looked over at the counter where he spotted a pile of papers with what seemed to be a blueprint at the top. Observing it, he noticed that there were four rooms and that names had been scrawled on them.

Smirking, he turned to May. "Admit it, you completely forgot about us."

Firing up at his tone of voice and that irritating smirk, May whirled around and snapped back, "No way! In fact, we did this on purpose so we could make things more interesting!"

Drew looked at her in amusement. "Oh really…so you're saying that your four friends will room with us four?"

May gulped. "Exactly." …_Misty, Leaf and Dawn are going to KILL me…_

The four boys gathered around the blueprint. Upon seeing Leaf's name, Gary smirked. "I'll be rooming with Leafy then." Gathering up his suitcase, he began to make his way down the hallway to where Leaf's room was presumably.

Ash scanned his eyes around the paper and let out a whoop. "Alright, Mist's here!" He was evidently delighted, and May watched him thoughtfully as he ran upstairs, and quietly entered her ginger-haired friend's room. _He so likes Misty…maybe this project would be a good opportunity to play matchmaker…_

Paul grunted, capturing May's attention. Without another word, he picked up his luggage and made his way down the hallway. _He's choosing to room with Dawn? _May wasn't sure whether to feel surprised at the impassive teen's decision or relieved that he hadn't chosen to room with her as that would've been pretty awkward. But, then again, this means that she'll have to room with…

"Hey, June." Drew smirked tauntingly at her. "If you could kindly show us to _our_ room, that'd be great."

May grimaced at her luck, and reluctantly began making her way upstairs with Drew in tow. Opening the door to the room, she flicked on the lights and ushered him inside. Drew looked around at the pale green colored walls and nodded. "Decent room."

May shrugged and plopped down on the bed. The single, king-sized bed. Single. Bed. The words repeated in her head, as May blushed at the thought of sharing a bed with Drew, and began to hate herself more and more for her decision. Drew, taking note of the one bed situation also flushed a little, before making a decision.

"Hey…y'know, if sharing a bed is too weird I'll take one of the couches downstairs."

May blinked at the green-haired boy's sudden thoughtfulness, before shaking her head. "Nah it'll be okay, it's just sharing…a bed…" She blushed again and looked away. Drew observed her face for a moment before smirking. "So, guess that means we're sleeping with each other tonight."

He was promptly smacked in the face with a pillow for the innuendo.

"Shut up Drew," May muttered. "Let's just go to sleep."

Flicking off the lights, May clambered under the covers and was joined by Drew moments later. And uncomfortable silence fell upon them, only to be broken a few moments later.

"Sleep tight," Drew whispered, and May could picture in her mind the smirk he must've had on his face at the moment. Rolling her eyes and distancing herself as far away from the boy as possible, May sighed and closed her eyes, preparing herself for what the next morning will bring.

* * *

So I decided to write another chapter today as I was home with nothing to do. The boys arrive at the house...poor Drew gets whacked with a frying pan...and who knows what'll happen the next morning when the other girls wake up? Anyways, reviews would be greatly appreciated, and I'll catch you guys later!


	3. Chapter 3

Two chapters in one day...my writing juices just happened to be flowing today I guess. That, and self-motivation to make sure this story doesn't die out. Oh, and sorry I forgot to mention this in the last chapter, but thanks so much to you guys who've reviewed my story, it means a lot. Anyways, onto chapter three…let's see how everyone reacts to the new rooming situation.

Chapter Three

The sun was above the horizon; rays of sunlight spread out around the land and shone on the dew on the grass. Bird began to chirp their morning songs, and all around the current location of Lilycove City slumbering bodies began to awake to the peaceful atmosphere of the morning. Inside of a nice looking two-story house, Misty Waterflower rolled over, relaxed and ready for the morning. Yawning, she opened her eyes, expecting to see the bedside table she'd set her alarm clock on so that she could check the time. However, there was something in the way. The mysterious lump blocking her view yawned and rolled over to face Misty. Russet-brown eyes opened to meet cerulean blue.

A moment of silence. And then-

"AAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The previous peace was instantly shattered, as birds quickly fled the rooftop of the house and away from the source of the agitated scream and the sound of a body thudding onto the ground. Neighbors began to start up their lawnmowers, the muffler-less truck from down the street starts up the engines, and a cloud rolls over the morning sun. So much for a nice, peaceful morning.

Misty slammed open her door, flustered, as similar screams of dismay and shock were repeated from within the rooms of Leaf and Dawn. Behind her, Ash was scrambling up from the ground where he'd fallen as a result of the ear piercing scream he'd awoken to. Heart still pounding from the early morning surprise he'd just received, he cautiously made his way to where Misty was standing and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You okay Mist?"

The fiery red-head whipped her head around, eyes enflamed and face still slightly flushed. "Ash Ketchum. How, when, and why are you here in my room?"

"Um…well…you see…"

Downstairs, two more doors slammed open near simultaneously as Dawn practically threw herself out of her room and as Gary _was_ thrown out of his room by Leaf.

"AND STAY OUT!" the brunette haired girl shouted angrily, as she slammed the door to her and apparently Gary's room shut. Said boy blinked up from the floor that he was thrown down on before smirking. "Who knew Leafy wasn't a morning person?"

"I HEARD THAT!"

Dawn sweatdropped at this scene before turning back to face the door that she'd just run out of. The shock of waking up to find Paul, of all people, in her bed was starting to slowly ebb away. Peering back inside the, she caught sight of him peeling off his shirt to change into a new one.

"Eep!" she squeaked at the sight of his abs she'd never known that he had. At the sound, Paul glanced up at her and raised an eyebrow. Dawn flushed and backed away from the door and running off to the living room in search of someone who knew what was going on. That someone had some explaining to do.

* * *

The someone, May, was lying in her bed staring at the ceiling as she heard the chaos happening around the house. She glanced beside her. Somehow, to her disbelief, Drew was sleeping through the morning madness. _Who knew he was such a heavy sleeper?_ In fact, one has to wonder why May hasn't ditched the slumbering grasshead to go and explain the situation to her friends before they had panic attacks?

Drew shifted slightly in his sleep, moving her arm in the process. She looked down in remembrance at their somehow clasped hands. _Oh. Right._ May had woken up to the mystery of how Drew's hand had ended up in hers, and after 20 minutes of awkward feelings from May, he still showed no sign of letting go. She felt her cheeks begin to burn as she stared down at his still sleeping face. Soon, her heart began to beat faster, and she felt her stomach starting to flutter. _Why am I feeling this way all of a sudden?_

_Maybe you're falling for him. _May stared down as her face flushed even more from the sudden thought that had flown through her brain.

_No way, _she shook her head. _After all, we compete in everything, from test marks down to who can run the track faster. We're rivals. And rivals don't think of each other that way._

Deciding to banish all of those thoughts from her head, May relaxed in the comfort of the bed and listened to the voices coming from around the house. Then she tensed up again as she realized that sooner or later one of the other boys will tell her friends about her getting everyone into this mess. And then someone was bound to come find her and ask her why the boys were here and in their rooms...May shuddered at the doom that would await her when she explains the rooming idea of hers to her friends. Plus, she could only imagine what would happen in someone walked in and saw her holding hands, with Drew nonetheless.

As if bringing her thoughts to realities, the door to her room burst open in a rage. Misty stood in the doorframe wielding her mallet in a threatening pose while Leaf and Dawn weren't too far behind. May gulped. "Sorry guys…I can explain…."

"It better be one heck of an explanation May dearest, or-" Leaf began, only to be cut off by a girlish shriek from Dawn.

"Look! May and Drew are holding ha-ands~" Dawn sang out while pointing a finger at the two.

Misty and Leaf's expressions immediately turned into Cheshire Cat-style grins as they looked towards May, who was mortified as well as starting to look pink in the face. Then the grinning trio looked down at her and Drew's linked hands. May, noticing where their stares were going, ripped her hand out of Drew's, flinging his arm back in the process. The arm snapped back into Drew's face, which finally awakened the slumbering teen.

"Ow…what the…" he grimaced, sitting up. He looked around at the already awake girls who seemed to be in the process of freaking May out with creepy smiles and sweatdropped. Whatever was going on, he had no idea-and he didn't want to stick around to find out. Shrugging off the covers with a yawn, he walked around the group of girls and headed downstairs towards the couches he'd spotted earlier. As soon as Drew was out of earshot, May's friends pounced.

"So, guess we can't blame you for the whole room situation if you just wanted to get closer with your dear Drew…" Misty smirked mischievously while Leaf nodded in agreement.

"That is so cute!" Dawn squealed. "Are you guys, like, a thing now?"

May sighed. "No…there isn't anything going on between us and there never will be." She muttered.

"Oh, come on May!" Misty quipped from beside her. "You should get together. I mean, it's pretty obvious that Drew has a thing for you. Think about all of the roses he's given to you!"

"Yeah, to taunt me," May sighed again, thinking back to the many instances where Drew had handed her a rose along with an insult. Then something came to mind. "And speak for yourself; it's pretty clear to me that Ash's carrying a torch for you."

Misty blushed before retorting, "Yeah right, it's more like he's carrying a match for me. That guy's so dense about stuff like that…"

"Wait…so do you like him?" Dawn gasped accusingly.

Leaf giggled at Misty's facial expression, before deciding to save her ginger-haired friend from further embarrassment. She turned to the others. "We should probably go downstairs and talk to the guys and discuss the project."

Misty nodded in agreement, glad all the love accusations were done with. "Yeah, and we still haven't taken a good look at all of the papers yet."

"Alright," May agreed, shifting out of bed.

"And while we're at it, we should talk a little about switch roommates," Leaf's voice dropped to a low growl and she gripped her hands into fists. "I'd rather not be stuck in a room with that spiky haired jerk, if you know what I mean."

Her three friends stared in worry at Leaf as she exited the room to head downstairs. May furrowed her brow. _Three months wasn't enough to forget, I guess._

* * *

Gah, that didn't turn out the way I thought it would. XD Oh well. There was a little hint of Contestshipping and Pokeshipping in there…and why does Leaf seem to hate Gary? We'll see…

Until next time!


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

The four boys and four girls were currently situated around the coffee table in the living room area. May and Dawn had taken the liberty of sprawling themselves on one of the couches, while Ash and Paul occupied another. Gary and Leaf were sharing a couch, the latter spacing herself as far away from the boy as humanly possible. Misty was leaning on the arm of May and Dawn's sofa, while Drew paced slowly and aimlessly around the room. Silence had befallen the room after things were cleared up on how the guys had gotten into the house, and why the girls were there in the first place. Also, after a long and tedious conversation, everyone had agreed somewhat reluctantly to leave the rooming situation as it was since the girls were already all unpacked and well, everyone was just too lazy to re-orientate. Not to mention May had a little scheme starting to form in her head…

"So, let me get this straight," Drew began, cutting the silence while cupping a hand around his chin and slowly wandering around the living room floor while in apparent deep thought. Turning, around he narrowed his eyes at May teasingly. "…Ms. Airhead here actually made it into the top four in her class?"

"Shut up Drew," May snapped back, annoyed that that was all he got out of the whole morning conversation.

Leaf rolled her eyes at the pair, before turning back to Misty who held the folder that had caused this whole ordeal. "Anyways, we should probably take a closer look at the project. What do all the assignment papers say?"

"Ah yes," Misty looked down at the sheet. "Well the front page of this assignment booklet lists 7 assignments that we have to complete over the next two weeks."

"So one assignment per every two days," Gary stated. Dawn nodded and grinned.

"Hopefully with some luck we'll get things finished ahead of time so we can go shopping or something," she chirped happily. Across the room, Paul rolled his eyes, amazed that that was all the bubbly, and in his opinion _troublesome_, girl had in her mind.

Misty looked back at Dawn. "Actually, I think we'll be doing some shopping today; it seems to be the first assignment."

Leaf and May widened their eyes in part excitement and part disbelief. "Really? Our assignment is shopping?"

Peering over Misty's shoulder, Drew corrected them. "_Grocery _shopping."

With that, the three girls slumped back down into their seats in disappointment while Misty sweatdropped at her friends' reactions. Looking back down at the paper, she read out loud, "_'It's time for you to learn how to put food on the table for yourselves. You can't order pizzas forever! Disclose the receipts from your shopping trip.'" _

Misty reached into the folder and pulled out two envelopes, one envelope entitled "Receipts" as well as another fairly plump envelope that evidently contained cash. A sheet of paper with "Assignment 1" written at the top slid out of the folder and onto the ground in the process. Leaf leaned over, picked it up and read the words on the paper out. _"'Here is a map that will show you to the nearest grocery store. This assignment will be marked based on how wisely you choose to spend your money, and what you pick out from the store._'"

There was a pause as everyone took their time to let the assignment sink in. Finally, Ash quickly leapt out of his seat. "Yes! We're going to buy more food!"

Misty whacked him over the head with the folder. "Is that all you think about?"

Gary lazy reached over and swiped the map from Leaf. "Hey!"

Ignoring Leaf's indignant cry, Gary swept a glance over the map provided. "Looks like this supermarket's pretty close to here. It's just a little ways down this highway that our street turns onto."

"Alright then let's go!" Ash cheered along with May, the former already halfway out the door with the latter close behind.

Misty sweatdropped once again while Drew and Paul shared a seemingly simultaneous eye-roll at their antics. "Do they even know where they're going?"

Leaf giggled. "Probably not."

* * *

"Are we there yet?" Dawn moaned, as their group trudged along the sidewalk.

Paul rolled his eyes at question that seemed to have already repeated 75 times since the moment they left the house. "No."

Dawn kicked a rock. "Ugh."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "What's wrong with you, thought girls loved shopping." _Especially you._

"Well, I like shopping at the mall," Dawn let out a hefty sigh. "But grocery shopping? That's totally different; it's like way too boring for me."

Paul grunted and turned away. _Girls._

"Oh look, we're here!"

The exclamation came from Misty at the front of their group, and Dawn's head shot up and around, while Paul slowly scanned the streets for the store. Soon, they all had their gazes set upon the large building on the opposite side of the highway from where they were standing. Dawn's eyes lit up in relief.

"Great! We're here," she exclaimed, happy that they were a step closer to getting the grocery shopping over with. Without another hesitation, she jumped off the sidewalk and ran across the highway, unaware of the oncoming traffic much to Paul's disbelief.

Screeches of cars skidding to a sudden halt was heard, and Paul took the opportunity to run after Dawn, subconsciously aware of Misty's shout of "Wait!"

Reaching the other side, he glared at the girl while trying to calm his thumping heart. "Ever heard of checking for cars before crossing the street? You could've been killed."

"Ehehe…" Dawn chuckled, embarrassed. "At least I wasn't, hey?"

Paul glared at her, before turning and quickly walking into the store without waiting for the others. "Troublesome girl."

Dawn raised an eyebrow at his sudden coldness as the rest of their group started to arrive behind her from the other side.

"I'M GONNA DIEEEE," came May's voice in a scream, as she streaked across the highway pavement, dragging Drew along behind her in consequence for his teasing question of, "Need help crossing the road, chicken?"

Dawn giggled at the pair, both looking traumatized for different reasons. Then, when everyone (minus Paul who was already inside) was ready, they all filed through the automatic doors and into the Super Poke-mart. After finding Paul, who was standing around inside beside a stack of shopping baskets, they all formed a semi-circle around Misty who had the quick shopping lists they had created while on the way from the house.

"Now," Misty announced, holding up four different lists. "I've divided the list of items into four main categories, so we can split into pairs and therefore finishing the task faster!" Grabbing a basket, she turned to Leaf and nodded at her. "So, Leaf and I'll go find the-"

"Hold up," Gary cut her off, smirking, and nudged Leaf on the shoulder. "I can pair up with Leafy here."

Leaf grimaced at the, in her opinion, outdated nickname before "nudging" Gary back in the stomach with her elbow, enough to send him doubling over in pain. She turned back to the others to protest. "I'd rather n-"

She was abruptly cut off by Ash who let out a whoop, "Great, so if Gary's gonna partner up with Leaf, I'll go shop with Mist!"

Ash jumped up and grabbed a random list from Misty, scattering the other three in the process, before grabbing her arm and dragging her off to an unknown destination. Misty, too shocked to respond, was dragged helplessly away by the food-obsessed boy, basket flailing wildly in the air.

"Umm…" May spoke up unthinkingly, staring after her vanished friend.

Drew chuckled to himself before leaning down to pick up one of the fallen lists as well as a basket. Poking May in the head, he gestured towards an area with a large sign hovering above it that read "Fruits and Vegetables". "Come on, let's go."

May and the others looked at him curiously over his choice of partner. Noticing their looks, Drew smirked. "Well, don't look at me like that. After all, someone's gotta look after the brainless."

"The brainless" flushed and glared at the offending boy. "Excuse me, but I'm not_ brainless_."

Drew snickered. "Could've fooled me."

"Why you!"

The two then proceeded to squabble with each other, unconsciously walking towards the fruits section as they argued. Dawn, Leaf and Gary watched the arguing duo as they slowly made their way out of sight, while Paul picked up one of the green baskets from beside him and began to walk away to the aisles, a list already in hand. Dawn, noticing him, ran after him. "Hey Paul, where're you going?!"

"Away from here."

Leaf, noticing the two were leaving her, called after her friend in panic. "Hey! Dawn! Wait, don't leave me here with…"

Dawn was already out of earshot, much to Leaf's dismay as now she'd surely be paired up to shop with…

She turned around to look at Gary. "...him."

"Awe, don't look so downhearted," Gary grinned. "Consider yourself lucky to have the great Gary Oak beside you once again!"

With that, he swooped down to pick up the last remaining list on the floor, and walked away aimlessly towards the many aisles up ahead. Leaf clenched her fists tightly before forcing herself to relax with a sigh. She had no choice but to pick up the green basket and follow after the boy who always seems to make her life feel a little miserable.

* * *

Well, there you have it! They've figured out the first assignment in the project, and now everyone's split off into their corresponding pairs to try and find everything they'll need for the next week or so.

I was originally going to combine this chapter with the next chapter I have coming in, but I felt like splitting it into two separate ones. Oh and also I'm thinking about changing the rating on this story to T instead of K+…I don't know, what qualifies as T rating anyway? Oh well, I'll go with intuition I guess.

Anyways, the next chapter will be out soon, so watch for it to find out what troubles everyone gets into while attempting to shop. :p

Until next time!


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Y'know, as I was writing this chapter, I was like "To split into separate chapters, or not to split? That is the question."

And, well, here is the answer!

* * *

Chapter Five

"Hmmm…." Leaf studied the rows of carefully packaged meat. "Should we get chicken or pork?"

Gary who was standing beside shrugged uncaringly. "Just get both."

Leaf narrowed her eyes at the uncooperative response. "Well, aren't you just helpful?"

"What?" he protested. "It's just meat; it's not like it's anything important…"

_Not that you seem to find anything important, _Leaf thought to herself bitterly. Gary looked over at her unhappy expression and sighed, knowing where everything was going.

"…Look," he began, redrawing Leaf's attention to him. "I'm sorry if you're still mad at me over what happened between us a few months ago, but in the end it was still your choice."

Leaf gritted her teeth. "How's it my fault? The only reason that I made that choice was because a certain someone doesn't know how to stay faithful in a relationship."

But then again, she figured she probably shouldn't have fallen in love with a charming womanizer in the first place.

Gary ran a hand through his hair. "Listen Leaf, I was faithful to you I swear. It's been three months, just hear me out okay? You didn't see what you thought you sa-"

"I know exactly what I saw," Leaf cut him off, her words sharp. "And you won't convince me otherwise." She still remembered the day that it all happened, the memory still vivid in her mind.

* * *

It was their spring break. Leaf stood by the entrance to their house, opening the door for her visitor. Her heart fluttered as her longtime childhood friend _and_ crush Gary walked in. He spotted her and gave her a warm smile. "Hey Leafy, happy birthday."

"Hey there Gare-bear," she giggled, walking up to him. "Thanks for coming by."

Gary rolled his eyes good-naturedly at the nickname. "Yeah, yeah."

The pair walked down the hallway towards their families who were in the living room, but Gary paused under the doorframe leading out. Leaf paused as well and looked back at him. "What is it?"

Gary fidgeted, suddenly looking uncharacteristically awkward. "I, uh, have a present for you."

Leaf's eyes widened. "Oh Gary, you shouldn't have!"

"But I did," Gary smiled as he pulled his hand out of his pocket to reveal a small box wrapped in shiny wrapping paper. He handed the package over to Leaf, who slowly unwrapped it as to try and preserve the wrapping paper. Soon, the present was unwrapped and Leaf let out a tiny, audible gasp. Inside the small box lay a delicate looking silver bracelet, adorned with several small leaf charms of different shapes and sizes. Taking it out, she looked over it slowly, before turning to her friend with a huge grin. "Thank you so much!"

"Do you like it?" Gary tilted his head, although Leaf's grin had already given him a good idea.

"I love it," she exclaimed happily. Gary took the bracelet from her hands and helped her clasp it around her wrist. He held her hands as the pair smiled at each other until finally Leaf turned away. "So, should we head to the living room? I'm sure my parents would like to see you again and pass on some words for your parents."

Gary tightened his hand on hers. "Hold on Leafy."

She stopped and turned back to look at him again. "What is it?"

"I have something I want to tell you," he said, looking nervous again. Leaf waited for his next words to come out.

"Listen," he continued. "I know we've always been friends ever since we were little, but…"

Leaf's heart began to beat quicker. "But?"

Gary exhaled. _Here goes._ "But I really like you Leaf. I'd like to be more than just friends with you. So…I was wondering if you'd go out with me."

It was like a dream coming true. Leaf felt as if her heart would explode from happiness, and beamed up at his blushing face, her own face taking on a pinkish hue. "I would love to Gary."

* * *

It was now the first day back to school after their spring break. The pair had gone on dates practically every day of the previous week, and Leaf couldn't have been happier. She had told her friends all about it during their Skype sessions, as they'd all been out of town for the break. Walking into the school with May, Misty and Dawn in tow, she looked around for her _boyfriend _(oh, how she loved calling him that) and she spotted him leaning against some lockers, arms crossed.

Beaming at the sight of him, she quickly raised a hand in hopes of catching his attention. "Hey! Gar-"

Her joyful call was cut short as a girl suddenly broke out of the hallway crowd and latched herself onto Gary. The blonde girl took a fistful of his shirt and locked lips with him as Leaf watched on, heart turning into ice. Gary made no move to fight back against the mystery girl, and as Leaf continued to watch, she felt tears begin to pool into her eyes. Her friends from behind her had seen what was going on as well, their eyes wide, and May's mouth was gaping open.

"Oh Leaf," Misty murmured quietly. "I'm so sorry."

Leaf didn't want to hear it. She felt like she was stuck in place, cemented to the ground with her head forced to stay in place as she watched what she thought was her boyfriend and some blonde girl play tag with their tongues. Suddenly, she found herself making eye contact with Gary, as he paused.

The air seemed to freeze. Leaf unconsciously found herself backing away from Gary, as the boy himself seemed to snap out of some sort of stupor and began to walk towards her, ignoring the cry from his blonde friend. Seeing Gary draw closer, Leaf whirled around and ran the other way down the hallway, not hearing her friends' cries of "Leaf!"

"Leaf, wait!" That was Gary. Leaf still longed to turn around and run, instead, into his embrace. But now she knew better. She wouldn't fall for his tricks again. He was just some guy who'd played with her heart. Convincing herself of these facts, she began to slow down in her run until she'd completely slowed into a stop. She heard footsteps behind her, instantly recognizing them as Gary's footsteps. Taking a deep breath, she turned around to face her now ex-boyfriend. "What do you want?"

"Leaf, I'm so sorry," Gary said quietly. "I don't know what you all saw, but I can explain. That girl's nothing special, she's not like yo-"

"Save it Gary." Leaf interrupted, her voice just as quiet. "I know what I saw."

Gary opened his mouth to protest, but Leaf didn't let him. "I heard that you were a player, a womanizer, but I didn't want to believe that. That you would cheat on me, like all the other girls I've heard about. Stupid me, I thought that since we've always been friends, you wouldn't do such a thing to me. Because friends don't try to hurt each other like that. But I guess I had it all wrong didn't I? I should've listened to my friends' warnings, but I was a fool. A complete, utter fool. Nothing you say will convince me otherwise."

"Leaf…I…."

"Goodbye Gary," she spoke when he couldn't think of anything to say in response. "I'm going to class."

With that, she walked into her classroom, leaving behind the one and only boy who'd broken her heart.

* * *

And that had been the last time she'd spoken to him. Leaf hated this project, for bringing them together again. Just when she'd finally gotten over the whole ordeal, fate cruelly twisted them back together and into the same house even. Every time she looked at him, she'd have to remind herself that he wasn't her friend. She didn't like him. But sometimes, she admitted to herself, it was hard to remember that.

"Leaf…are you alright?"

There it was; that gentle, caring voice that few ever got out of the great Gary Oak. She felt her defenses begin to weaken, and a furious blush came upon her face as she desperately tried to forget about her redundant feelings. An arm encircled her from the side, and she froze. Then she did what anyone would do in the middle of the meat section at the Super Poke-mart; she screamed and slapped Gary in the face with a pork chop.

* * *

Drew was in the lead, walking around the Poke-mart while scanning for the items on the list in his hand. Looking around he spotted some tomatoes and walked over and grabbed a plastic bag, preparing to pick up some of the red vegetables-turned-fruits. May popped up beside him, momentarily startling him. He'd almost forgotten that she was there due to the unusual silence that had fallen over the two when they'd reached the food section.

She looked down at what Drew was putting into the plastic bag and made a face. "Yuck, tomatoes?"

Drew raised an eyebrow at her. "Yeah. Why, do you not like tomatoes?"

"Not like them?" May exclaimed. "I hate them with a passion!"

Drew pondered this for a moment before finding the flaws in her logic. "How do you eat pizza then? Or spaghetti?"

May thought for a moment before cheerily pointing out, "I don't mind those things, just tomatoes plain!"

Drew finished gathering up tomatoes and tied off the bag. Throwing it into the basket May was carrying, he began to walk over to the greens. "Whatever."

Not wanting to be left behind, May hurried after him only to find him studying a pile of zucchini.

"Whatcha doing?" she asked, prodding him in the shoulder.

Glancing back at her, he flicked his hair with one hand while the other picked up a bundle of fresh zucchini. "Zucchini…I could probably whip up something with these."

May's expression quickly turned into an image of shock. "You _cook?_"

"Yeah, what about it?" Drew turned his head away with a small blush.

"That's…" Drew braced himself for the certain ridicule that would follow. "…AWESOME!"

His head snapped back to May. "E..excuse me?"

May caught his eye, her sapphire blue eyes sparkling. "Maybe you could teach me how to cook! Leaf once tried to teach me, but after what happened with the whole vegetable casserole fiasco, I've been banned from the kitchen and so I have no way to learn how to cook. I'd ask my parents if I could use their kitchen, but my mom doesn't trust me. Can you believe it? You explode the microwave _once_ and no one trusts you again! And Misty and Dawn don't know how either-"

Drew stared at the babbling brunette before smirking and turning away. "I'd rather not pass on my cooking secrets to an airhead like you."

May glared, abruptly cut off on her rambling. "Hey, at least my head doesn't look like this." She held up a head of cabbage up to Drew's face in comparison and gave her best smirk. "See? Twins."

Drew threw two zucchinis into the basket before retorting. "At least my face doesn't turn into a tomato whenever I'm the least bit flustered."

As if to prove his point, May's face flooded with color before she began to yell back, "No it doesn't!"

_SPLAT._

Drew sniggered as May blinked in frozen, wide eyed blankness, a result of the mushy tomato he had produced out of nowhere and tossed at her face. It was a childish move, but the reaction he'd received was perfect. "See, now you're a tomato face. Literally."

May narrowed her eyes. "Oh. It's on."

Grabbing a head of cabbage beside her, she hurled it at Drew's head. It was a direct hit; the cabbage ricocheted off of Drew's head and rolled onto the floor and out of sight. Drew held his head with a grimace before walking away towards a giant display of fruits. May, triumphantly thinking that she had won, walked behind him with a pleased expression. Suddenly he whirled around, peach in hand.

"Eat this!"

_SPLAT _"EEEEEK!"

Drew and May's mouths dropped open. At the last second before Drew's launch of the peace, May's reflexes had allowed her to dodge out of the way. Now, the girl behind May who Drew had accidentally maimed had a splotch of peach guts covering her yellow tank top. May gasped and ran up to the girl.

"My shirtttt," the reddish-brown haired girl wailed, looking up at May distraughtly.

"Oh my goodness, we're so sorry! It's all Drew's fault, he threw the peach!" she cried, pointing back at the green-haired boy.

At once the brown haired girl stopped and stared over at Drew and back down at her shirt. She repeated this process a few times, and May began to feel unnerved. Then the girl exploded with words.

"OH MY GOSH!" the girl cried, surprisingly happy. "I'M WEARING A SHIRT COVERED IN A PEACH THAT MR. DREW THREW!"

"Um, what?" Drew blinked.

The girl ran up to him, jade green eyes sparkling. "Mr. Drew, you probably don't recognize me but we're in the same History class! I'm your biggest fan, I swear. In fact, _I've loved you ever since we were partners for that science project in grade 6!"_

May stared at this scene with eyes as wide as an owl's. After taking a closer look at the girl, she'd realized that the girl was in fact from the same school as them, and that they even shared the same gym class. _What was her name…Brianna, right?_

As May thought this over, Brianna turned away from Drew, who was slowly backing away, and pointed a finger at her. "Now, the fight is on!"

Snapping out of her thoughts, May turned to her and pointed also at herself. "Who, me?"

"That's right!" Brianna cried. "I've seen the way you look at Drew! You even take those amazing roses away from him! Now, it's time to fight for Mr. Drew's affection! May the most worthy one win!"

"Wha-wait, hold on a second, I don't want Drew's affect-" May tried to explain helplessly, but to no prevail as Brianna grabbed a container of strawberries and began to launch them at May in rapid-fire.

As May struggled to defend herself against the surprisingly tough berry projectile with her basket, Drew finally snapped out of his "What the hell?" daze. Grabbing a few apples, he threw them at Brianna to distract her and caught hold of May, dragging her behind a pile of watermelons for shelter.

"Drew, what is going on?" May whisper-shouted to him.

Drew grabbed a bag of oranges from the basket and broke the plastic bag open. "I, uh, have some stalkers…they follow me around occasionally…and are a little bit crazy."

"Just a _little_ bit?!"

Brianna kicked aside a watermelon to reveal them. "I will have you Drew! Take this May!"

In a flash, Drew had stood up, blocking May from Brianna's view. "Sorry, but I won't allow you to hurt May."

May's eyes enlarged as she looked up at Drew. _He's protecting me? _A blush crept onto her face at a mental image of Drew dressed like a knight in shining armor flashed in her mind before being banished away by May. _What the heck, brain?_

"After all, we don't want her brain damage to get any worse," Drew continued on from his previous statement.

May's blush turned into one of anger. "Gee, thanks Drew. Know what? Take this!" She chucked a zucchini, tomahawk style at Drew. Brianna gasped as the vegetable made contact with his shoulder. "Mr. Drew!"

Drew dropped the fruit he had onto the floor and fell over in agony, faking fatality. "How could you May? I thought we were friends."

"Don't worry Mr. Drew; I will avenge your death." Brianna stated firmly, taking a step towards May abruptly cutting off May's giggles. Drew sweatdropped at Brianna's serious expression as May stood her ground, bravely wielding a banana. …_Well, this escalated quickly._

"We'll see about that!"

Brianna frowned and threw an orange at May's bandanna-covered head. May quicked deflected the round fruit with her banana, losing her "weapon" in the process. She looked around quickly for more "weaponries" and dashed over to a pile of neatly stacked boxes that contained fruit. Throwing the lids open, she deemed the mangos inside suitable ammo, and began to fight back. Chaos ensured as fruits and veggies were tossed about in the air at alarming speeds. May dodged her opponent's ammo as well as she could, but some managed to hit her and she realized that apples could potentially be hazardous to one's health._ Grapes too, _she thought bitterly as one hit her right in the eye. Holding a hand up to the affected eye, she grimaced. _Great, now I can't even aim properly._

Brianna showed no mercy as she leaned back, ready to launch again. "Ready to give up?"

May gritted her teeth. "No way!" _Why am I even doing this again?_

As the crazed fangirl let loose another barrage of fruits, May ducked behind her arms and squeezed her eyes shut, therefore failing to see a blur of green hair and purple jacket fly out in front of her. There was a thud of fruits splattering against hard plastic, and May looked up to see Drew standing in front of her, holding out a bright yellow "Caution: Wet Floor" sign as if it was a shield.

May let out a sigh of relief from escaping the horrors of healthy, flying foods before grinning up at Drew gratefully. "Thanks for that."

Drew, instead of smirking like May had expected, grinned back at her, but before he could respond, there came a sharp, shrill sound piercing through the air.

_PHWEET._ "Freeze!"

The three teenagers standing in the surprisingly deserted Poke-mart froze. Drew looked over at the security guard, then around at the food splattered girl in front of him as well as the broken watermelons and mashed up fruit on the ground. He looked back at May's wide eyes.

"Well, crap."

* * *

Dawn raised her head in the air. "Did you just hear something?"

Paul looked back from the other side of the aisle. "Hm?"

She furrowed her brow, trying to pinpoint what she thought she'd heard. "It sounded like…a whistle! Yeah, like a whistle."

"I didn't hear anything," Paul muttered, uninterestedly. Dawn pouted, then looked back down at the shopping list she held.

"Let's see…'grains"….we already have the bread and bagels…what else should we get?"

Paul shrugged, and gestured around the bakery area. "Anything."

He immediately regretted saying this, as Dawn spun around to look at him with sparkling blue eyes. "You mean…anything?"

"Well, maybe not an-"

Dawn interrupted him with a girly squeal of delight, grabbing his arm and dragging him towards an aisle of sweets. "Let's get some cupcakes and brownies! Oh, what type of cookies do you like?"

Paul grimaced. "I don't like sweets."

"Awe, really? What about donuts?"

"Those _are _sweets."

"Well…I guess…"

"Hn."

"Well, look who it is?"

An unfamiliar voice broke in through their conversation, and Dawn turned to her left, narrowing her eyes as she realized who it was. "Hello, Ursula."

"Hello Dawn," Ursula replied snootily. Then she turned to Paul, her voice changed to a silky tone as she gave him a sultry look. "Hey there Paul."

Paul's impassive expression didn't change, but he gave a curt nod back which was more than enough to satisfy Ursula.

"So, Paul dearest, what're you doing here with this brat?" Ursula continued, hooking an arm around Paul's, slanting her eyes at Dawn who automatically fired up.

"Who're you calling a brat?" she retorted.

Ursula snorted. "You, obviously. A brat like you shouldn't be hanging around Paul here. He's obviously too cool for someone like you…I'm afraid he might catch something contagious from being near you."

Dawn gasped at this, her words cutting into her. _Does Paul think he's too good for me? Am I really just some troublesome brat to him?_

"That's enough."

A serious voice, recognized as Paul's voice, broke into the conversation. He shook off Ursula's grasp on his arm before returning back to his place beside Dawn. He glanced down at the blunette's troubled look and sighed.

"She may be troublesome, but she's nowhere near the brat you are." He stated flatly. Both girls gaped at him in shock. Dawn felt relief flood her as she realized Paul didn't think that she was a brat at all, and even more relieved that he didn't seem to like Ursula. Ursula, on the other hand, was furious.

"You'll regret that," she hissed at them, more so at Dawn than Paul.

"Oh really?" Dawn couldn't help but let a smidge of smugness into her voice.

For a moment, the two girls were locked in a glare-down. Then, without warning, Ursula tilted her head back and let out a cry. "STOP! THIEF!"

Dawn and Paul stared at her incredulously as one of the Poke-mart's security guards came down their aisle towards them. "What seems to be the problem, miss?"

"Those two," Ursula gasped out convincingly. "They were shoplifting."

"What?" Dawn cried, outraged. "We did no such thing!"

"Stop lying, Dawn," Ursula sneered.

Paul held up a hand. "Hold on sir, this is all a misunderstanding. Review the security surveillance footage if you'd like, but we are not thieves."

The security guard took hold of Paul and Dawn's arms. "We will no worries. But for now, I'm taking you to the Customer Service desk. Did you come here with anyone else?"

"Yes, yes we did…" Paul's voice trailed off as he began to list off the names of their friends to the man leading them away. Dawn turned and glared with all her might back at Ursula as she slowly disappeared from view as they got further and further away. When she couldn't see the bratty, pink-haired girl anymore, Dawn exhaled in a large sigh before dread sunk in. "Misty's gonna _kill_ us…"

* * *

"Achoo!" Misty sneezed. She rubbed her nose and looked around curiously before shrugging. Maybe the shelves were just dusty. Anyways, she had plenty of other things to worry about. Misty couldn't help but get an ominous feeling from being away from her friends. It wasn't often that she wasn't around to input some reason in whatever they were doing, and whenever she wasn't there things always seemed to end in chaos. Sighing, she decided to forget about worrying and just hope that they weren't doing anything too terribly chaotic.

Pulling out the list that she and Leaf were originally supposed to take care of, she looked down the bulleted items. Somehow, she had thought of something that she'd forgotton to put on the list…what was it again?

"Achoo!" This time, the sneeze came from beside her. Misty nodded and wrote down the item.

"Right, we need tissues."

Turning in the direction of where the sneeze came from, she reprimanded Ash. "What're yu doing just standing there? You're supposed to be helping me look for what we need!"

Ash startled then saluted her jokingly. "Ma'am, yes ma'am!"

Misty couldn't help but smile at him before giving him his mission. "Go find the paper towels and tissue boxes, I'll find the soap and toilet paper."

"Okay!"

As he headed further down the aisle, Misty quickly grabbed the soap from right in front of her before turning around to grab the toilet paper from the other side. Now she had to find the last item before Ash got back. "Where are the tampons in this place?"

Looking around she quickly spotted the section for feminine products. Surveying all the different brands she tried to remember what brand she was supposed to get. Finally settling on a green packaged one, she grabbed it off the shelf.

"Hey Misty, what's that?"

Misty spun around and blushed when she saw that Ash had returned with the paper towels and tissue boxes. "It's…female products."

Dropping the tissue boxes and paper towels into the shopping cart they had picked up in favor to the previous shopping basket they had, he took the green package from Misty before reading it out to her mortification. "Tampons…"

An elderly woman walking down the same aisle with a shopping cart looked over at the inquisitive boy in amusement as Misty turned about 10 shades of red.

"What are these for Mist?" the dark-haired boy turned to Misty in question as the girl turned even redder.

"Nothing!" she yelped, snatching the package back and practically chucking it into the shopping cart. "Forget about it!"

"But…"

"I said forget about it!"

Just then, a triple bleep sounded above their heads, and both Misty and Ash looked up in anticipation of the announcement that would follow.

"_Attention: Misty Waterflower and Ash Ketchum please report to Custom Services immediately."_

Misty sighed in both relief and frustration; relieved from having to explain to Ash about tampons, and frustrated because she was certain this was because of the rest of the group. _What did they do now?_

* * *

Walking into the back room of the Customer Service area, Misty was greeted by the sight of the other six from their group along with a red-brown haired girl. The girl and Drew and May were covered is fruit juice stains, and Misty knew better than to ask them what happened. There'd be time for that later. Next, Dawn and Paul were seated side by side in the only two chairs in the room that were positioned against the far wall from where Misty and Ash were now standing. As for Leaf and Gary, Misty noticed they were leaning against opposite walls from each other, the latter with a large red mark on one of his cheeks. _What did Leaf hit him with this time?_

Misty sighed and walked in to lean against a wall. Ash followed her and leaned against the same wall right beside her before turning to Drew direction. "So…what happened to you guys?"

Drew gave no response as Gary snickered from across the room. "Isn't it obvious? Him and May were busy having fun with the food-" he was cut off by the presence of a glowering Leaf from across the room as May blushed from his comment and stared at the floor. An awkward, tense silence followed. Finally, Misty's curiosity began to get the better of her.

"So…" she started, regaining everyone else's attention. Misty nodded in the direction of the stranger she hadn't expected to see in the same room as the rest of them. "Who's the girl?"

At mention of her, the girl bolted upright from her spot beside Drew. "I'm Brianna! Drew's sworn protector and number one fan!"

Everyone stared at Brianna then at Drew before dropping it and going back to the silence. Weirder things have happened.

The door suddenly opened beside Misty, momentarily startling her. A security guard as well as the manager and a regular employee walked in. No one knew what to say so they all looked at the three new people in the room expectantly. The manager cleared his throat.

"We've reviewed the security camera footage," he stated looking over at Dawn and Paul. "You're all clear to go. Sorry for the inconvenience and misunderstanding."

"Oh no problem," Dawn piped up cheerily, back to her normal self now that they're been justified.

"Ah, right…as for you two," the security guard looked over at Leaf and then at Gary. "You're off with a warning this time for disturbing the peace environment we give our customers."

"Sorry, it won't happen again," Leaf lowered her head in apology as Gary nodded in agreement.

"And as for the food fight issue," the manager looked over at Drew, May and Brianna. "You will need to pay for the food damaged. We've reviewed over everything that was destroyed and the rough estimate for covering the damage is approximately $70."

May groaned as Drew flicked his hair, accepting the consequences. Brianna frowned at having to pay a third of the cost, but since it'd be unfair to Drew if she didn't she must do it.

The manager then brought back everyone's attention by gesturing to the employee he'd brought into the room. "Now, Brendan here will help you take care of your unfinished shopping just in case certain events repeat themselves." He smiled wryly before turning to take his leave. "Have a good day boys and girls."

"You too," Misty replied as the door shut. She turned to the other people in the room. "Now, you all still have your shopping lists right?"

"Yep," Dawn, May and Leaf chorused, handing their lists over to Brendan. As May handed over her rather wrinkled shopping list, she caught the employee's gaze and a jolt went through recognized this guy…he attended the same school as them and they had Gym class together. Brendan saw the realization in May's eyes and grinned. "Hey May."

"Hey!" she exclaimed, now completely certain she knew him. "How's it going?"

"It's going good now that you actually know who I am," he grinned. "I was waiting for you to remember me."

May giggled, as her friends gave each other curious looked from behind her. Drew was busy glaring down Brendan, but neither May of Brendan noticed.

"Well, I'd better get you guys your groceries," Brendan commented. Turning to May, he suddenly felt brave and gave her a wink. "I'll see you when you get back to school from your project."

"Yep, see ya Brendan!"

With one last wave, Brendan left the room. May's friends automatically cornered her.

"Who was that?" Leaf hissed at her, as if lowering their voices wouldn't notify the boys in the room about everything they were saying.

"That's Brendan Birch…he's one of the guys from my gym class." May explained.

"He's not bad looking," Misty judged thoughtfully. Behind her, Ash sucked in his breath.

"Not my type though, of course," she added quickly. Ash exhaled at that, feeling strangely relieved. May watched this exchange in amusement, wheels turning in her head. Then her attention was redirected to Dawn as the bubbly girl spoke up.

"He seems to like you May!" Dawn insisted with a giggle.

"What? No way," May scoffed.

"You should! Then I'd have no more competition for Drew's love!" piped up Brianna from her corner. The girls all turned to her and sweatdropped, having forgotten all about the Drew-obsessed girl. Gary coughed from where was still standing. "So, putting the girl talk aside, what do we do now?"

Drew flicked his hair and shrugged. "We wait I guess."

And they waited. About 20 minutes later, the same security guard that had come in the room before re-entered.

"Your groceries are ready to be paid for," he said gruffly. Then he walked right back outside.

"Alright, let's go pay," Misty sighed. She turned to the three food-fight offenders. "I'll need 25 dollars from each of you to pay for your little food-fight fiasco."

All three teens sighed and pulled out their wallets to fish out some cash. After Misty had collected all the bills, she opened the door and everyone filed out. Brianna fled from the store in a cloud of dust as soon as they'd all left the room, proclaiming about getting home and telling her fellow Drew fangirls about her encounter, much to Drew's dismay.

At the cash register, Misty paid for the groceries with the envelope of cash for their assignment, as well as the money for the food fight, and afterwards they were left with a much thinner envelope and several bags of groceries. Everyone eyed the 20-some grocery bags warily then at each other. How were they going to get them home?

* * *

Minutes later, they found themselves walking back down the highway to their house. Dawn and May were skipping merrily ahead, while Leaf and Misty walked at a much calmer pace behind them. And then, of course, walking behind them were the four guys, each carrying around 6 bags of groceries. Drew groaned. "How did it end up like this exactly?"

"You tell me," Gary muttered. Then suddenly, a squeal travelled back from the front. They looked up to see May and Dawn jumping around further down the sidewalk.

"What happened?" Ash blinked. From in front of them, Misty turned around with a grim expression as she informed them, "They just found a shopping mall across the road."

"Oh great," Drew blew air up at his bangs since his hands weren't able to flick his hair. "Now they're probably going to drag us to the mall with them tomorrow."

Gary and Ash looked horrified at the prospect of being tugged around a shopping mall all day, just as May's voice travelled back in jubilance. "Let's drag the others with us to the mall tomorrow!"

"Well, I guess it can't be as bad as today was," Ash sighed. Misty raised an eyebrow at him.

"I wouldn't bet on that…if we're going shopping with Dawn, there's a chance you won't make it out alive." she stated with a look of sympathy. All four boys, even Paul, paled at this statement. After telling the boys of their impending doom, Misty hurried to catch up with the three other girls who were busy examining the mall from across the highway whilst making shopping plans for the next day. Sighing, Drew gazed up at the blue sky while everyone shared the same thoughts.

_Tomorrow should be yet another interesting day._

* * *

Well there you have it! Sorry the ending's rushed, but this is possibly the longest chapter I've ever written for anything…so I hoped you enjoyed it. In this story, I may have leveled Brianna up in terms of fangirlness than she originally was in the TV show. :P And in case you were wondering about Misty wanting to get the girl products before Ash got back…well, wouldn't you be embarrassed if you had buy something like that in front of your crush? XD Anyways, for next time there's plans in the making for even more shopping…this time at the mall. Hopefully, for the sake of the guys, things aren't as disastrous the second time around!

I was reading through some other fanfics on the site, and I saw that a good majority of people include a little disclaimer at the beginning of the story. I'm not sure if that's really required, but, just in case, I'll say it one time and one time only; I don't own Pokemon. Sooo…yeup there you have it.

Anyways, I'm having more fun than I thought I would, coming up with the storyline for this fanfic and I hope you're enjoying it so far. Watch for an update to find out what crazy adventures happen to the characters at the mall!

Until next time!


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: A big shout-out to **jonathan. e. picard ** for the suggestions that are helping to build the plotline for this story, as well as to _all_ of the people who've reviewed my story, I feel so motivated after I read them! Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

Chapter Six

Dawn inhaled deeply, savoring the scents of fast food and perfume, before spinning back around to face her friends and the boys as they gave her strange looks.

"Welcome…to my second home," she proclaimed dramatically, sweeping her arms in a wide gesture at the surrounding stores and food court beside them.

May sweatdropped before pointing something out. "You've never even been here before…how is it your second ho-"

"I meant my second home is malls in general," Dawn huffed. The Lilycove City Mall was a decently sized two-story mall. It was everyone's first time in the place, as their project had relocated them from Mauville City all the way to a city a little ways away, Lilycove, as to make them feel as if they were really "living on their own."

Drew gazed around at the sights and whistled. "Ya gotta admit they've got a decent mall…better than ours anyways."

Gary scoffed. "Decent mall or not, a mall is a mall, and chances are…we're gonna die today."

Paul rolled his eyes at Gary's words, while Ash had a horrified expression painted on his face. Misty shook her head at the ever-true words, and Leaf stuck her tongue out at Gary before spinning on her heel and pointing to a store towards their right.

"C'mon," she declared. "First stop; dead ahead!"

Dawn and May cheered before linking arms with Leaf and skipping over to the store, while Misty dashed shortly behind them.

"Well, it's been a good life," Gary muttered.

* * *

"What do you think of this top?"

"Oh, that _so_ goes with your eyes!"

"…This cardigan?"

"Fab!"

The boys stood around awkwardly in the jeans section, as the girls chattered away while they moved further and further away from them down the shelves. Dawn had already snatched herself an armload of different colored and styled jeans, and now she was busy scrutinizing Misty. The orange haired tomboy felt a little uneasy. "...What is it Dawn?"

"You have to buy something Misty," the blue haired girl whined.

"That's right," May exclaimed from where she was busy examining a sheer red blouse. "Go ahead and look around for something!"

"I dunno…" Misty muttered, looking around at the endless sea of fabrics.

"Don't worry!" Dawn piped up, hurrying off to a distant stack of clothes. "I'll find ya something!"

As Dawn hurried away to find some clothes, Leaf also scanned the shelves and her eyes landed on an emerald colored skirt placed on a display beside them.

"Hey, Misty, how about getting a skirt…"

As she reached and caught hold of the targeted skirt, another hand snapped out and snatched the skirt from the other side. Leaf froze in surprise at the sudden gesture, and slowly looked up into a pair of piercing blue eyes that had blonde hair to match. _She looks…familiar._

"Ahem," Leaf shook off her thoughts and cleared her throat as she tried to pull the skirt back into her possession. "Sorry, but I think I had this skirt first if you don't mind."

"What?" the girl glared at Leaf, instantly dropping the room temperature by 10 degrees. "I clearly had it first."

Leaf raised an eyebrow and glared back, as she clearly laid hands on it first. "No…I had the skirt first."

"Leaf…" Misty began to object, as she didn't like where the conversation was approaching.

As the two females grasping the skirt went into a glare-down, May shivered at the frosty air temperature. Looking around, hoping to be distracted from the fashion showdown, she looked over at Leaf's rival's companion. _No way. _It was Brianna, Drew's crazed fan. May gave her a brief onceover and sweatdropped as she noticed Brianna was sporting a T-shirt with Drew's face on it.

Meanwhile, Leaf and Cassie had begun to argue, as Misty attempted to stop the argument while slowly getting irritated in the process.

"I had the skirt first."

"No way! I grabbed it before you did!"

"Guys…you're attracting attention…"

"Well I think I should have it."

"Guys…"

"Why? I obviously pull off skirts better than you can."

"Guys!"

"Oh…you _WISH._"

_Snap._

"I _swear_, if you guys don't quit making such a scene, I'm calling an employee over here!" Misty yelled, finally snapping as a vein popped out of her head.

Leaf and the blonde girl froze, finally hearing Misty's words. Both dropped the skirt after a final glare at each other. The blonde sniffed.

"Whatever," she snorted, making a 180 turn and beginning to walk away. "But this isn't the end of it Green."

"Yeah, Cassie's right, you'll pay for this!" Brianna finally spoke up, her eyes gleaming. "Operation We-Love-Drew shall commence!"

May blinked. "Operation wha?"

She received no answer as Brianna and the other girl, Cassie, were already out of earshot. Shaking her head slightly, May turned back to her friends. "So, what now?"

Misty looked around. "Well, I think we're about done here. Why don't you guys pay for your things and we go look around another store?"

Leaf, having recovered from her seething, nodded in agreement. "Yeah, let's get outta here."

May looked down at the top in her hands. "Alright, well, I guess Dawn and I'll go pay for our things."

"Oh, we're leaving already?" The bluenette popped up with her armload of tops plus more she had found while questing for some items for Misty. Dawn looked over at Misty apologetically. "Sorry, I didn't find anything that I thought suited you."

"That's fine," Misty waved it off, leading the girls over to the cashier. "I didn't really want anything from here today anyway."

"Me either," Leaf agreed.

May looked back at the forgotten skirt that had been previously quarreled over. "What about that skirt?"

"Nah," Leaf sighed. "It's too stretched out now anyways."

Dawn and May quickly paid for their items before rejoining their two friends.

"Have a nice day!" the salesgirl called out after them.

"You too!" They chorused back in unison.

"Now," May said, turning to her friends. "Where exactly did we leave the boys again?"

"You left us right here, dummy."

The voice came from their right, and May spun to see the owner of the voice.

And promptly burst out laughing.

"AHAHAHA," May exploded, lifted a hand to point at her rival. "…AHAHAHA!"

"Drew," Leaf started, having to stifle her own giggles. "_What_ are you wearing?"

He had on a pair of oversized pink sunglasses paired with a long, brunette wig and floppy white sunhat to boot. You wouldn't have recognized him if it weren't for the clothes he was wearing pro-disguise. The normally composed green-haired teen flushed at being laughed at by the girls (pointedly May) in his moment of mortification. His ever-loyal friends weren't too far off either, as he heard their chuckles coming from behind him.

"…AHAHAHA!" May, continuing to laugh, was now holding her phone out in front of her with the camera poised in Drew's direction.

"Okay, okay, stop," Drew grumbled, flicking his now-brown hair. "I can explain."

"Alright," May grinned at him in expectation, having recovered from her doubled over laughing position. "Let's hear it."

The giggles from the other girls and guys died down, and Drew straightened his posture.

"It honestly doesn't require that much explaining," Drew sighed.

"Oh, yeah?" Misty countered. "Then describe it in one word."

Drew thought for a moment before responding flatly. "Brianna."

"Ohhh," all the girls voiced simultaneously, instantly understanding his predicament.

From behind Drew, Gary straightened up from the display table he was leaning on and turned towards the exit. "Come on, let's leave this place."

"Yeah, I'm bored," Ash sighed, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Why don't we go do something us guys want to do?"

"You're so un-gentlemanly Ash," Misty huffed, walking out of the store.

"What? What did I do?!"

As everyone proceeded to follow suit, May realized Drew was still dressed incognito-style. "Umm…don't you think you should put your disguise back?"

"Are you crazy?" Drew asked, astonished. "Brianna and her minions are in this mall! What if we crash into them again?"

"Well you can't just wear it without paying for it!" May retorted, for once being the logical thinker.

Drew stopped and thought it over. He needed to stay in disguise…but he couldn't buy the girly accessories he was currently adorned in. What if his mother looked in his closet and found them? He could only imagine the questions that would follow after that. Sighing, he reluctantly took off the sunglasses and head apparel and tossed them aside.

"If anyone asks, I'm not Drew," he muttered to May as they walked out of the store.

"I dunno," May grinned and ruffled his post-wig hair, messing it up even further. "With that 'do, anyone could recognize you from a mile away."

Drew grimaced and added 'wig' to his mental shopping list as the pair caught up with the rest of their friends. It quickly became apparent that they were currently argu-conversing over which store to shop at next.

"Why don't we go to the bookstore?"

"Nah…how about we go to Poke-Apparel?"

"No way, let's go hit the arcade!"

"How about we go grab some food instead?"

"Yeah!"

_Smack_.

"Is that all you think about Ash?!"

"Ow!"

"Hey, look, the sports store!"

"Hn."

"Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?" seven other voices chimed in unison, turning to the owner of the question. Leaf sweatdropped at all of the attention she was being given before continuing to talk.

"Exactly; it's quiet."

The group of friends turned to each other with curious looks. Turning around to survey the area, Drew began to get an ominous feeling as he realized Leaf was right. Not a single shopper was to be seen walking around looking for appealing stores. A sudden feeling of dread began to circulate his body, as he turned back to the others.

"Leaf's right-it's quiet alright. Too quiet."

The eerie silence of their surrounding was suddenly broken, however. Unified stomps echoed around the walls as something approached from behind them all. Slowly, Drew turned around and gulped when he saw them.

_Wild fangirls._

Silence fell, and one could imagine that it would've been the appropriate time for a tumbleweed to pass by. Then;

"WE LOVE YOU DREW!"

"DREW, MARRY ME!"

"BE MY BABY'S FATHER!"

The last declaration, to Drew's horror, came from a middle-aged looking woman pushing a baby stroller. From beside him, May's eyes compared to those of dinner plates, and from behind him he could vaguely hear a muttered "What the hell?" from Paul. Then, a semi-familiar figure appeared as Brianna stepped out from the mob in all of her crazed fan girl glory and pointed over at their group.

"GET THEM! ALL OF THEM!"

The throng of fans let out a collective battle-cry, fueled by their rage and mysterious powers that allowed them to teleport to wherever Drew was located.

"Dammit Drew, seriously?" Gary yelled as the roaring mob began to run, advancing towards them. "What do we do now?!"

"Split up!" Misty yelled back after a split second for decision making as the fans closed in unnervingly.

Absolutely no repeat in the order was needed, as everyone immediately bolted in different directions.

* * *

This was supposed to be conjoined with the next chapter, but I decided to cut it off here so I could post something to let you guys know that I'm still very much committed to this story! And I am so sorry for the lack of update! It's just been a crazy week or so for me, a lot has happened in my personal offline life and I just couldn't bring myself up to writing anything. I guess you could say I was in somewhat of a slump, or just plain lacked motivation. But I'm all good now, and I'll get right down to posting another chapter soon!

On another note, thanks to **Mudkipster** for putting the idea of a fangirl mob in the mall into my head. I had the idea of splitting them all up before, but I wasn't sure how to do it. Your suggestion was like a final puzzle piece for me, so thank you and I hope you don't mind that I used it.

Watch for my next update, I promise it'll be up soon. You'll see how everyone manages to escape the crazy mob, and how they all manage to find each other without being caught. (Especially Drew…the poor guy)

So, until next time!


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: This. Is. _Overdue. _O.o Sorry about the delay, this was supposed to go up a little while ago. I finally kicked my brain into motion and got cracking on this until it was done.

..Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter Seven

Drew felt like he was running for his life. Ironically, this was pretty much the case as about 10 of his fan girls were hot on his trails at the moment. Looking back to see if the enemy was gaining, he noticed that all of them were wearing t-shirts with his face plastered on the front. Furthermore terrified and compelled to run faster, he pushed himself to sprint more. _I can't run like this for much longer; I need somewhere to hide._

Leaping over a table, he bolted as fast as he possibly could, darting around a corner and ducking into the nearest shop he could find. Instantly, his senses were flooded with the scents of flowers and soil and he was surrounded by greenery.

"MISTER DREWWWW, WHERE ARE YOU?"

Panicking, Drew threw himself into a batch of bushes beside him. Crashing into the center of the potted plants, Drew ducked his head and held his breath. From what he made of it, he'd made it in the nick of time as the fan girls milled curiously around the outside of the shop.

_Please, please go away._

"Oh! I think I see him going that way!"

A chorus of clicking high heels and high-pitched squeals erupted and slowly faded away as the followers ran off in whatever direction "Drew" ran off to. Drew released a shaky breath, thankful for whatever distraction had allowed his escape, as well as thankful for his green hair as it was in fact pretty decent camouflage. Relaxing a little, he rocked back onto his heels and brushed his hair out of his eyes. Noticing a few leaves tangled among locks of his hair, he grimaced. _If May saw me now, I'd never hear the end of it._

Straightening up from his crouched position amongst the bushes, he began to brush the leaves off his hair and looked around to see if any fans had lingered only to find him eye to eye with a young woman with a watering can. Said girl's mouth was in a small 'O' of surprise from his sudden emerging from within the plants she was just about to water.

Drew sighed at the predicament as the girl's eyes widened in realization and recognition.

"E-excuse me…" she spoke up shyly, breaking the awkward silence and lowering her watering can. "Aren't you…_the_ Drew Hayden?"

Drew stepped out of the bushes and brushed off his clothes, freeing them of loose leaves from the bushes. Taking a look at the shy girl, he deemed her to be a regular girl and not a rabid fan girl before replying.

"Yes, I am."

The girl let out a little giggle of delight. "Um, if you wouldn't mind…could I please have an autograph Mr. Hayden?"

"Sure thing," Drew replied breezily, scratching his name down on the piece of paper the girl offered to him. Waving goodbye to yet another (non-crazy) fan he'd encountered, he strolled out of the Flower and Greenery Shop and slowly began to make his way down the mall, being cautious for his crazed fans.

Oh the fans. Having a famous actor and a movie director for parents had its downsides at times. Other than being recognized worldwide by crazy fans from his occasional acting in movies his father directed, Drew found it constantly as a reminder of the expectations he was to achieve. It was hard to find people that treated him normally instead of something special, and there were few people that could do that. His friends, to name a few, as well as a certain brunette he loved to bother. Smirking at the thought of her, he paused in his steps to look around him. His smirk fell into a frown as a twinge of worry passed through his mind.

_Wonder where she ran off to…_

* * *

"Here you go," the ice cream shop worker handed Brianna her ice cream cone.

"Thank you," Brianna replied sweetly, all traces of crazy hidden away as of the moment. "And remember what I said; if you see that bandanna-headed girl I told you about, call me right away."

The ice cream shop employee smiled weakly and gave her a nod, holding her own phone up that now contained Drew's number one fan's digits. Satisfied, Brianna walked off in different direction while licking the newly acquired ice cream cone. "Come on girls; let's go hunt that May girl down!"

As the members of Drew's fan girls chanted their battle cry and disappeared from view, the "employee" let out a huge exhale of relief and leaned against the counter. Taking off the tacky ice cream cone shaped hat and white apron as well as sunglasses, light brown hair and bright, blue eyes were revealed. Smiling to herself, May congratulated herself on a job well done.

"Ummm…could I have my uniform back now?"

She looked down at the nervous teen that was still lying on the floor as a result of her barging into the shop and knocking him down while trying to find somewhere to hide. Ultimately, there'd been nowhere to hide so May had resorted to drastic measures. Needless to say, the real ice cream shop worker was rather traumatized.

Extending a hand, May helped the guy up and handed him his outfit. The boy cautiously accepted his work uniform, all the while eyeing May warily.

"Thanks-" she checked the nametag on the apron, "-Taylor, for lending me the disguise!"

"R-right…"

Laughing nervously at the guy's weirded out expression, May inched towards the doorway. "Ehehe…Yeah…so…I'm gonna leave now."

"Er…okay."

Jumping out of the shop, May took a few steps away from the shop before sighing and collapsing onto a bench, leaning back, and closing her eyes. _Well _that_ was awkward…but at least I escaped Brianna._

"Well, well, well, look at what the cat dragged in."

May instantly recognized the voice and didn't bother to open her eyes to snap back a retort. "Don't give me that Drew, this is your entire fault in the first place."

There was a pause in the conversation as Drew flicked his hair. "…I can't help being so irresistible."

May furrowed her eyebrows in irritation. "Still, couldn't you have attracted, I dunno, something less rabid fan girl-like?"

She heard a sigh of agreement from above her. "If only."

Opening her eyes, May looked up at Drew only to see his hair topped off with leaves. Raising an eyebrow, she lifted a finger to point at his hair. "There's leaves in your hair; you planning on turning into a bush or something?"

Drew grimaced as he reached up with his hand to rake his hair free of leaves. After he was certain the leaves were all gone, he focused back on May to start in on an explanation.

"No, I jumped into that store over there and hid in some of their bushes," he gestured towards a flower shop about two stores down from the ice cream parlor.

May snickered. "I bet you blended right in, what with your hair and all."

Drew shrugged as it was pretty true. "Well, how did _you_ escape the mob?"

"Er…I ran into the ice cream parlor and ripped the clothes off of the guy who was working the counter," May sweatdropped at her explanation while Drew looked pitying.

"Poor guy must be traumatized," he sympathized.

May huffed. "Well, he'll have you to thank; it all goes back to your crazy fan mob."

"Speaking of the mob," Drew changed the subject. "I wonder where our friends were chased off to."

May gasped. "That's right! How are we going to find them?"

Drew pondered this over for a moment. "We should probably phone their cellphones."

"Good idea!" May cheered. Then her face fell as reality sunk in. "…Except I don't think either Misty or Leaf brought their phones today, and Dawn's is broken."

"Great," Drew exhaled, somewhat disappointedly. "I don't have my phone on me today either and I don't know any of the guys' numbers by heart, so I guess we'll just have to wander around until we find them."

"Fantastic," May muttered. "I'm stuck in a mall with a grass head and about 100 crazy fans of said grass head that are lurking around every corner and trying to kill me!"

"Don't kill yourself with the optimism there May," Drew sighed. Then he extended a hand down to where May was still sitting on the bench. "Come on. We might as well start looking for them."

May stared warily down at his hand for a moment before accepting it and helping herself up. Standing up straight, May looked curiously down at their still-interlocked hands. Drew's hand was nice and cool, and fit rather comfortably in hers. She blushed. _Hey, not a bad feeling._

Then Drew's hand loosened its grip and pulled away, leaving May both a little relieved but also somewhat confused. May looked up at him questioningly and he quickly turned away from her, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"W-well, let's get going May."

"Huh? Oh…right."

"AHHHH! LOOK, IT'S MISTER DREW!"

"…!"

"…Oh, look. Fantastic."

* * *

Misty heaved a sigh, leaning against a wall of the store she was currently situated in. Although she was sure the mob's plans hadn't put her as a priority target, she had booked it for her life, and now she was somewhere inside the mall and surrounded by surfboards. She hadn't bothered to take a look at what the name of the store was as she was running in, but taking a look around at the surfboards and beach décor, she had a good idea. _Eh, might as well get myself a swimsuit so I can use the house pool later._

Slowly approaching one of the racks of swimsuits, Misty scanned her eyes along the row of differently styled swimsuits. Bikinis, tankinis, board shorts, one pieces…what should she get? _More importantly, what would impress Ash?_

Misty blushed at her own thoughts. It was true; she desperately wanted Ash to see her in a different light. As far as she knew, he still considered her as a friend, which stung her heart. Sighing dejectedly, Misty reached out to hold up a yellow striped bikini and observed it half-heartedly. _Sometimes…I wonder if that boy even has hormones._

"Hey there!"

A chipper voice came from her right. Misty looked over, surprised to see another girl around the same age as her who was holding up another bikini.

"Here, take this," the girl handed over the bikini that she was holding and taking the yellow-striped one Misty had been holding.

Misty looked down at the new dark blue bikini that was adorned with gold-colored buckles, and back at the stranger who offered her a somewhat sheepish smile.

"Sorry," the girl grinned apologetically. "I saw that you looked rather troubled before and thought you might've been having issues choosing out a swim suit."

"Thanks," Misty smiled warmly back, appreciating the thoughtfulness although the girl had got the situation wrong. "I love it."

"I do too!" the girl giggled. "Blue is totally your color. Oh, and my name's Melody, by the way."

Misty smiled. "Nice to meet ya, I'm Misty."

"Hey Misty," Melody grinned. "Well anyways, I'd like to stay and talk but I gotta run, so it was great to meet ya!"

"Right back atcha," Misty called after her as the newly-acquainted Melody dashed off and out of the store. Turning and walking up to the cash register, she pulled out her wallet. The cashier swiped the bikini price tag before announcing the amount of money needed.

"That'll be $13.59," the cashier informed her monotonously.

Sorting through her wallet, Misty picked out the exact amount of money before handing it over to the bored-looking teenage boy. He took it then handed her a receipt.

"I really don't get paid enough for this," he sighed, looking out at the doorway, no doubt wishing for an escape.

"Gosh, hope you have a nice day too," Misty muttered, walking away from the depressed cashier.

Walking out of the surf shop, Misty took a good look at her surroundings. She noticed the intersection where they'd been ambushed by the mob and began to ponder. _Maybe if I wait around there, the others'll will have enough sense to head back there as well._

"Arf!"

The sudden noise of a dog broke Misty out of her thoughts. Looking around for the canine, Misty didn't see any obvious animals at first. But she was proved to not be delusional, as she finally spotted the pet's shop across the mall from the shop she'd just exited.

"Awee, look at the cute little animals," Misty giggled girlishly as she made her way across the floor to get a closer look at the animals placed by the window to allure customers. She'd always been fond of animals…much, _much_ more so than bugs, anyway.

"Let's see…" Misty began to look over all the different groups of animals. "There's the cute little cats…the adorable puppies…the birds…and….the _ASH?!_"

* * *

"…mmph…this is really good! Sure you don't want any?"

Misty sat, watching the boy she for some reason had a crush on devour his third sandwich. "No, I'm not hungry. Plus, I think I've lost whatever appetite I might've had anyways."

"Suit yourself!" the raven-haired boy said cheerfully, popping the last bite of sandwich into his mouth. Misty sighed and drummed her fingers on the food court table, waiting for him to finish chewing. When he was done, she decided up to bring up the burning question. "So…would you mind filling me in on why you were trapped in an animal cage in the first place?"

"Oh, right," Ash grinned at her sheepishly. "Well...it kinda happened like this…"

* * *

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" the fan girls screamed madly.

"AGHHHHHHH!" Ash screamed back, running even faster. He was in the lead for the mad chase with about a 10 meter margin between himself and the mob. Swiveling his head around frantically, he found a store with the doors opened and quickly ran towards it. Instantly, he was surrounded by an assortment of barks, meows squeaks, and chirps. Momentarily distracted by all the cute little animals, he was brought back to his senses as the cries of the enraged teenage mob began to draw within earshot again.

"Right, hiding place," he muttered, looking around for a suitable hiding place. Beside him stood a large dog kennel with the wooden door open, and Ash stared down at it for a second. Then he dived into the kennel, the lock latching shut from outside. Leaning back against the closed hatch, Ash held his breath and listened to what was happening outside.

"Drat, where'd he go?"

"I swear I saw him run in here."

"Whatever. He was cute, but not as cute as Drewykins."

"…Yeah!"

"LET'S GO FIND DREW!"

Rejuvenated cries of determination rose from the mob once more as the stomping of their feet marched faded, leaving peace once more. Well, peaceful besides all the animal noises.

"Alright," Ash whispered and grinned and mentally gave himself a pat on the back for picking out a good hiding spot. After double checking to hear if Drew's crazy followers had come back, he tried to open the door of the kennel to get out; keyword being tried.

The door rattled against its hinges as Ash tried to get the door open again. Fumbling around for the lock, Ash face palmed as he finally realized it was on the outside of the door.

"Help!" Ash cried out, hoping one of the pet store employees would hear him and help him out.

Alas, all the employees were being lazy and taking their breaks.

Looking around the confined space for any other means of escape, Ash noticed that the kennel was put right beside the window so that shoppers could look in at him. As he watched, a little girl walked up in front of him, her eyes trained on a litter of puppies in the kennel on the left of Ash. Her attention was quickly brought to Ash however, as he began to desperately shake the metal wire of his cage with his fingers.

"Help me," Ash begged pitifully to the girl who had wide eyes. "Please!"

The little girl burst into scared tears and ran away.

Sighing, Ash knelt in the center of the cramped cage. Disappointed, he mindlessly stared out the window. How much longer would he be stuck in here?

_Growl…_

Ash placed a hand on his rumbling stomach and hung his head in despair. Hopefully he could get out of here soon…

"Seriously, those fan girls are terrifying! Aren't you their leader or something? Can't you do something about them?"

Ash's ears perked up as he heard some squabbling voices travel through the glass window and he glanced up. He cheered right up as he spotted May and Drew, caught in the midst of one of their classic arguments. Now was the chance to get help!

"Drew! May!" Ash called out, rattling the kennel in hopes of catching their attention.

Outside with Drew and May, however, Ash's futile attempts to contact them were overridden by their own banter.

"You just wish were the wonderful and talented me so you could have fans too May."

"Yeah _right, w_hy on earth would I want to be an arrogant grass head like you?"

"…Maybe because I'm better than you at everything?"

"Oh please, I could _so_ beat your sorry self at any game of choice."

"Guys! Help!"

Drew looked around, momentarily putting their argument on pause. "Did you just hear something?"

"Yeah, I did…" May looked around and agreed, turning to him with a sly gleam in her eye. "It's the sound of that arcade over there beckoning us to go have a duel where I will ultimately cream you!"

Drew returned the look, letting out a rare grin rather than his usual smirk. "Oh, it's on."

"Nooooo!" Ash wailed, pressing his face against the wire mesh of the death trap he was in as May forcefully grabbed Drew's hand and dragged him towards the arcade much to the latter's chagrin. And then…Ash was alone once more. Sighing again, Ash shifted until he was sitting cross-legged. Looking over at the kennel to his right, Ash began to complain to the small golden retriever dog sitting quietly in it.

"Why did this have to happen to me?" Ash asked the puppy. It looked back at him curiously with big, brown puppy eyes.

"I mean, I could be eating ramen in the food court by now if it weren't for the whole getting locked in a kennel thing, y'know?" he continued, stomach grumbling once again at the thought of food. The dog pawed at the wires separating the two confined souls and barked in encouragement.

"Yeah! You're right," Ash said, determination renewed. "I'll get out here! Let's just hope Misty walks by too, she'll be able to help me for sure."

A flash of orange caught his eye. "Hey…speaking of her…."

* * *

"And then you found me and let me out and we bought the stuff and now you're taking me out for ramen," Ash finished off cheerfully to an exasperated Misty.

"Well, if you'd seen May and Drew walk by, I guess that rules out the idea of everyone meeting back at the intersection," Misty sighed.

"Oh well, I'm sure we'll find them eventually!" Ash grinned, ever the optimist. Misty sighed again while looking around the food court once more for a hopeful glance of her friends. There were none. Giving up, her gaze made its way back to the table she was sitting at and her eyes latched onto something, reminding her of something from Ash's story.

"I feel bad for that dog that had to sit through all of your woe," Misty mentioned, shaking her head.

"Well I'll make it up to her!" Ash proclaimed, making sure to refer to the dog by the right gender.

"Yeah," Misty sighed, "That shouldn't be a problem since you freaking _bought_ it."

True enough, the adorable golden-furred dog was sitting quietly and obediently beside Ash, now clipped onto a new-bought leash. Ash reached over to ruffle its head fur as he grinned back at Misty. "Oh come on Mist, you know that's not all I got out of this."

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, but that's gonna remain our little secret alright? Dawn would have a fit if she found out."

"True."

* * *

Paul sighed and checked his watch. _4:30_. It'd already been an hour since the mad dashing from the mob scenario (well, more like everyone else dashed as Paul stood there while the mob ran past him) and he still hadn't found anyone yet. He hadn't seen Ash or May when he'd passed the food court, and Drew wasn't at the florists; heck, Paul hadn't even seen Dawn in any of the girly clothing stores he'd passed. At one point, he'd thought he'd seen her in a store and had actually wandered in, only to find that it wasn't Dawn and that the salesgirls were way too perky.

Paul sighed again, pausing to lean against one of the big glass windows of yet another clothing store. It wasn't that he missed being with a group; quite the opposite, really. Paul never considered himself a "people's person"; he wasn't talkative, friendly, or extroverted at _all_, which is why he often questioned why he was even associated with a certain bubbly, troublesome girl in the first place. But, he couldn't help but wonder where they'd all scattered off to. At this rate, he would be stuck in this gosh-forsaken place until the whole project thing was over.

BAM BAM BAM

The window shook from right behind him. Paul had a heart attack.

Well, not really a heart attack, but it felt like it could be.

Paul jumped away from the glass and whirled around, eyes slightly widened in surprise although his insides were still skyrocketing from sudden adrenaline. One of the mannequins that'd been originally standing a good 2 feet away from the glass was now right in front of him, only separated by the thick, clear glass. As the "mannequin" looked at Paul with sparkling blue eyes of excitement, he began to list off the things in his mind that came to mind. _Scary, alive, familiar, bubbly, blue eyes-_

"-Paulie-bearrr," a voice sang through the glass.

…_Troublesome…_

Giving Dawn his best "What do you think you're doing you idiot?" look, Paul motioned for her to get down from the mannequin display and to get out of the store. Dawn, somewhat understanding, jumped down from the window before running out of the door stores.

"Heya," she chirped once she reached Paul's side. He nodded back at her in greeting as his thumping heart finally slowed to a normal pace.

"Have you seen anyone else yet?" she inquired, poking him on the arm. Paul sighed.

"If I did, don't you think they'd be here with me right now?"

Dawn pouted. "Fine, I was just asking…sheesh."

Paul checked his watch. "It's 4:40. We should try and find the other idiots an-"

"4:40?" Dawn cut him off dramatically with a swing of her arm that narrowly missed Paul's head. "That still gives us time to shop!"

Paul groaned inwardly, trying to step-side the inevitable. "Like I was saying, we should probably go and-"

"Pleaseee," Dawn whined childishly, tugging on his arm. "Just a few stores and then we can go find the others?"

Paul made the mistake of looking down at her face. She was sporting her best Bambi eyes and pout while illusory sparkles floated around her like in cartoons. As he stared, temporarily mesmerized, the glittering and pleading looks strengthened until even the mighty, cold Paul couldn't handle it anymore(although he never could).

"Fine," he sighed, relenting to her request.

"Yes!" Dawn broke off her pleading and cheered. Hooking an arm around his, she began to drag him, against his will, towards his demise. Slowly, Paul accepted his fate and reluctantly enabled his legs to walk on their own once more. Satisfied, Dawn let go of his arm, knowing that he wouldn't leave her side. As the pair walked in comfortable silence down the mall, Dawn let out a girlish squeal as some glittery caught her eye. "Ooh!"

As she dashed over to large glass window showcasing the jewelry store's finest gems, Paul was left behind in the dust. Rolling his eyes, he walked over to her side to see what she was marveling at.

Shiny stones glittered under the bright lights they were set under, and Paul watched as reflected lights of various colors bounced through the glass and onto Dawn's fascinated face.

"Aren't they pretty?" Dawn breathed, looking over at Paul who was still watching her closely. He startled slightly and turned back to the glittering gemstones so as to avoid eye contact.

"I guess," he muttered under his breath, not quite enough to escape Dawn's hearing.

She grinned. "I really like those pink ones! What're they called again…uhm…."

"Rubies," Paul supplied helpfully, still gazing through the glass at the aforementioned gems that adorned a beautiful necklace.

"Right, those!" Dawn chirped in agreement, turning back to the glass and pressing her hands onto the glass. Side by side, they observed the jewelry. At least, Dawn did; Paul was busy counting up numbers since there was nothing else he could do but think. Finally, Dawn sighed and backed away from the window.

"Alright, let's continue on forward," she declared, once again pulling the content Paul away from his peaceful mindset. Paul noticed her take one last lingering look at the ruby necklace before going on to chatter about what stores she "absolutely needed to hit". Looking back himself, he gave one more onceover of the little store before dismissing it from his mind.

They spent some time walking comfortably without any conversation, only Dawn's humming and Paul's silent thoughts. Just as Dawn's humming turned to One Direction songs and Paul began to get a headache, they stopped in front of a store. Dawn smiled happily and turned to Paul.

"Let's go shopping!" she squealed, hands reaching out to snatch Paul and drag him with her into the store of dim lights, pink dresses, and overwhelming perfume.

Paul gulped silently and moved out of reach. "I…think I'll stay out here."

Dawn pouted before waving it off and turning to walk into the store. "Alright, fine. I'll be back in about 15 minutes."

"Hn."

* * *

Leaf wandered around the store, observing the different sheet music books as well as admiring the guitars that hung off of the wall to showcase their beauty. She'd been inside this music store for a while now as she had nowhere else to go and, frankly, she didn't really feel like leaving the store. Leaf had always loved music; she found it a great way of expressing herself, and listening to music always seemed to affect her mood. It really was a wondrous thing.

Plopping down on the piano bench, Leaf began to feel exhaustion settle in. She felt mentally exhausted from her life's current events; having to share a house with Gary, running into that Cassie girl whom she still couldn't remember how she'd recognized her…and, of course, Drew's little fan mob fiasco didn't help much with her exhaustion.

Sighing to herself, Leaf straightened herself out on the piano bench until she was sitting directly across from the black and white keys of the piano itself. Reaching out with her hand, she slowly pressed down on the middle C key.

_Dahhh_

The piano sung the note, and Leaf stared down at the keys, hands itching to test the piano and work its magic.

"Would you like to play a song?"

Startled, Leaf raised her hand from where it was on the piano and looked up. An elderly man, who was evidently the store owner, smiled down at her kindly.

"If so, then go right ahead," he gestured with a merry sweep of his arm to the piano in front of her.

Leaf grinned at the man in thanks. He nodded back with an encouraging smile before walking away to help some customers. Letting out a breath, Leaf smiled to herself. This was her chance to get the beat going to let off some steam. Eagerly, she scanned the shelves placed in front of the piano for names of songs that she could play. What kind of song did she want to play today? Some jazz? Swing? Or maybe a nice, slow ballad even…

Suddenly a flash of brown caught her eye as it made its way past the music store window situated right behind the shelves she was currently observing. Focusing on the window, she identified Gary as what had caught her attention. But then, her sight was quickly drawn to his companion.

It was Cassie.

Of course; now she remembered it all. Her memories flooded back and she realized Cassie was that blonde girl who Leaf had spotted Gary cheating with way back at the day of their breakup. No wonder Leaf had thought she'd recognized her.

As the pair walked out of sight of the window, Leaf felt her previous eagerness and happiness go with them, only to be replaced by anger at his womanizing actions. _What a player, _Leaf thought angrily, glaring back down at the piano keys.

However, the anger didn't last as other emotions took over Leaf's heart. She felt sadness, heartache. Desperation and longing for him to love her again. Of course, he was the one who'd always tried to get her to talk it out with him. But, Leaf knew better than to fall for him again, even though her heart sometimes felt as if it were in turmoil. She wouldn't go back to him again; it would only cause more heartbreak. He'd already won the hearts of too many girls; there's no way he would get hers as well.

Leaf sat in front of the piano inside a quiet little music store. Then, she lifted her fingers to the black and white keys and began to play.

* * *

Dawn strolled out of the store, carrying with her 2 more bags she had managed to buy while in the store. Singing quietly under her breath, she skipped over to where she'd left Paul. Reaching the spot, she quickly realized something; Paul was gone. A pang went through her. Of course she knew she'd said she'd be back in 15 minutes and ended up shopping for 30 minutes, but she'd believed that Paul would've waited for her to come back nonetheless. Now, looking around and spotted no purple-haired boy, she sighed. Where could he have gone?

"Oi, troublesome."

Hearing the familiar voice, Dawn spun around to see the guy she'd just been wondering about. Paul stood there nonchalantly with hands in his pockets and he was now carrying a solid black bag. He was also breathing a little heavier than usual, indicating he'd just run back from some location.

"Sorry," he muttered, catching Dawn's gaze. "I had something I needed to buy too and I'd figured it would've taken you longer than just 15 minutes to shop."

Dawn blinked for a second at the longer than usual sentence that had just floated out of Paul's mouth before responding. "Oh, that's alright."

The pair stood there in somewhat awkward silence. Dawn desperately searched her mind for something to talk about so that she could break the silence, but for once there was nothing.

"…_.No, I can't take one more step towards you…"_

Dawn perked up as she heard a girl's voice. The voice sounded familiar and the she was singing seemed to be streaming out from inside of a small store a little further down the mall. Glad for a distraction, Dawn immediately grabbed Paul's arm and began to drag him to the source of the song. She was a tad bit surprised when the purple-haired teen didn't resist against her pull and instead walked along beside her. But hey, she wasn't complaining.

"Where are we going?" Paul looked over at Dawn raising an eyebrow in curiosity.

"Don't you hear the singing?" Dawn smiled, having to look up at him due to height difference.

Paul paused for a moment before realization dawned on his face. "Ah."

"Yup," Dawn giggled, tugging his arm in urgency to make their way to the store faster. "And I think I've figured out who the mysterious singer is too!"

A few steps later, they were standing in the entrance of the little music shop. Much to Dawn's surprise, Misty and Ash were standing beside the entrance too as well as Drew and May.

"Hey, what're you guys doing here?" Dawn hissed in a lower voice over at the nearest two friends.

Drew turned, temporarily surprised by Dawn's appearance while May whispered back. "We heard the music from a little ways away and came to check it out."

Meanwhile, Paul started a similar conversation with Ash and Misty. "What are you doing here?"

Ash opened his mouth to respond but Misty shushed them both. "Shhh…it's Leaf over there!"

Dawn looked over at the girl sitting with her back towards them, solely focusing on the piano. It was Leaf alright; she could tell by the voice as well as the outfit Dawn had helped her pick out that morning; a plain dark green tank top, white shorts and white and green striped flip flops along with a high ponytail.

"Wow, Leaf's really good," Ash whispered as the song continued. Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Yeah," Misty agreed, before lowering her voice so that only the other girls could hear. "The song must be for Gary."

The three girls exchanged knowing looks before turning back to watch Leaf.

* * *

Said girl was obviously oblivious to her friends' presence as she continued to pour out her song.

"_Who do you think you are?_

_Running around leaving scars_

_Collecting your jar of hearts,_

_And tearing love apart…"_

Leaf began to press down harder on the keys as she began to feel emotional; this song suited her situation perfectly. Gary was a heartbreaker, leaving scars on everyone's hearts…including hers.

"_You're gonna catch a cold_

_From the ice inside your soul…"_

Does he even feel empathy for the girls he dates through? Does he even realize what kind of feelings he leaves them with? If so, he really does have a cold soul on the inside.

"…_So don't come back for me…"_

That's right; she wouldn't go back to him. She could do this.

_Don't come back at all!"_

On the last word, Leaf threw her head back and pierced the air with the note, letting her own feelings ring in the words. It was captivating.

"_Who do you think you are?"_

With the last line, Leaf began to feel her eyes water. She wanted to believe the words of the song; she wouldn't fall for him again now that he was back.

But like always, her heart still betrayed her.

"Woot! Go Leaf!"

She was broken out of her thoughts from the sudden applause filling the air from behind her. Swallowing the tears, she turned around to see her friends, as well as a few shoppers and the manager that were also in the store, clapping and cheering. The sight of them made her smile and Leaf felt her spirits lift as she stood up from the piano bench and gave a little curtsey.

Walking over to the almost completely gathered group, Leaf was enveloped by her three best friends in a group hug.

"You okay?" Misty murmured towards Leaf as the four girls hugged it out.

Leaf laughed quietly and nodded with a small grin. "Yeah, I am now."

Disentangling herself from the group hug, Leaf pulled back and looked around at the entire group and attempted to strike up conversation. "So, what'd you guys all buy?"

"A dog."

"Arf!"

"Shoes!"

"Victory over Drew."

"Nothing."

"Nothing? Then what's in that black bag Paulie?"

"…Heh, 'Paulie'."

Paul shot Drew a death glare for his quiet snickering.

"…I bought a swimsuit for the pool."

There was sudden silence as everyone instantly began to search their own brought luggage in their minds. Dawn gaped at Misty's comment for a good 5 seconds as May and Leaf exchanged glances before stating simultaneously; "We need swimsuits too!"

"Well, so do we," Drew flicked his hair with a smirk. Ash nodded in agreement as Paul sighed, dismayed at having to shop any further.

"Come on girls, I saw the store with the cutest bikinis on sale!" Dawn cheered, grabbing hold of the two friends closest to her. Misty and Leaf were dragged away at breakneck speed by the bluenette as the boys and May watched on with sweatdrops.

"Anyways, meet us back here at 5:30," Drew ordered May as the boys began to walk off, presumably to find a swimsuit store.

"5:30?!" May called at his back in disbelief. "That only gives us about 15 minutes to shop!"

"That's right," Drew smirked back at her over his shoulder. "So don't be late."

May stood with crossed arms and stuck her tongue out at Drew's retreating figure. Then, realizing she'd better catch up with her friends, she quickly ran off in the direction the others had disappeared to.

* * *

A/N: UGH. What a crappy ending.

It was supposed to end differently…however, I was having difficulty tying the ending I had in mind into this chapter. So therefore, it was cut to this crappy ending.

I'm sorry. Q_Q

Anyhow, crappy endings or not, I'm glad that people seem to be enjoying this story! :) I was reading through my reviews and **LillieGhoul**'s question about the missing Pokémon stood out to me; sorry, there will not be any Pokémon in this story. Personally, I haven't watch the anime in quite a while so although I would've loved to have Pikachu and the others in there, I don't think I know the Pokémon well enough to write about them. Maybe once I catch up on the show I'll start up another fic with them in it, but for now I'll be writing into an alternate universe that doesn't have Pokémon. Sorry to those of you who were hoping for some Pokémon action this time around!

Random Ramblings on Reviews: Thank you so much to _everyone_ who reviewed. I always thank you guys, but it's because it means so much to me. Before I became an author on here, I'd read through tons of stories without leaving reviews because I didn't know how important they can be to the author. But now I know…and if you're a fellow Fanfiction author, I'm sure you can relate somewhat to what I'm saying. It's so motivational, y'know?

Oh! In case you were wondering, the song Leaf was singing was **Jar of Hearts** by **Christina Perri**. I've been obsessed with that song lately, and it was kind of fitting for the situation so…I incorporated it. ^_^ It's an amazing song; I recommend you listen to it in case you were wondering what kind of song Leaf was singing there.

I NEED A NAME FOR THE DOG. D: It's a girl. My mind doesn't seem to be satisfied with any of the names it comes up with, so I need some help. My brain is very criticizing to its own ideas.

Anyways, hope you enjoyed this chapter….after all that work, I've only now realized this was more of a giant filler chapter. Q_Q Oh well, make sure you keep posted for an update to see what goes down for dinner! :P

Wellll…that's it for now, so until next time!


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Gahhhh sorry for the even longer wait. D: Here's the eighth chapter! –Throws onto the interweb-

* * *

Chapter 8

"-Oof," May flopped face first down onto the couch, letting herself sink into its comfortable cushions. Sitting up from the flop, she was followed by Dawn in the same manner. Leaf, on the other hand, simply sat down into the opposing couch. The three of them had just returned to the living room after heading upstairs to put their things away. Now, almost the whole group was assembled in the living room as it seemed to be their meeting place for just about anything. Drew and Paul were lazing around on the third couch as they waited for the final group members to show up.

As she sat on the couch, May heard thumps and barks and shouts come from upstairs. May sweatdropped as she turned her face towards the ceiling where the noise was coming from. _What are they doing up there?_

Just as the question crossed May's mind, Misty appeared at the top of the stairs while carrying the little golden retriever Ash had picked up at the mall. As Misty walked down the stairs, May could pick up pieces of her muttering to the dog. "…so sorry…had to be stuck with such a dense guy for an owner…"

Misty reached the bottom of the stairs and, still cuddling the dog close to her, sat down on the couch next to May. An awkward lack of conversation was bestowed upon everyone as they looked over at Misty then down at the dog that for whatever reason was still looking rather traumatized from whatever she'd experienced upstairs.

"…So, does it have a name yet?" Paul of all people struck up conversation, looking once more at the dog.

"It is a girl and no, not that I know of," Misty replied, smoothing down some of the fur on top of the little furry animal's head.

"We should name it Sally," Dawn piped up from the opposite end of the couch. Paul rolled his eyes at the typical name suggestion.

"Anything more original?" He asked dryly and was answered with a huff from Dawn.

There was another moment of silence as everyone took up the dog naming challenge in order to actually be doing something. May took another good look at the little canine before closing her eyes as if doing so would improve her thinking skills. "Um…how about Clover?"

"Clover?" Drew snickered. May reopened her eyes and shot him a look.

"What?" she demanded angrily. "I think that's a great name!"

Shaking her head at the bantering duo, Misty sighed and released the still-nameless pup to the floor as it was beginning to fidget around in her arms. "It really doesn't matter what we want to name it. In the end, it'll be Ash who names it; after all, she'll belong to him after this project's over."

As everyone on the couches relaxed back into their seats as they reluctantly agreed to her words and let go of their only source of entertainment at the time, said owner of the dog burst from his room upstairs in a frenzy. "GUYS!"

He immediately had everyone's full attention.

"What is it?" Drew lazily inquired.

Ash gulped in some air frantically before bringing up the apparent problem. "I just realized something!"

"What?" Misty asked him, straightening up from a slouched position, now more alert for his impending realization.

"WE FORGOT GARY AT THE MALL!" Ash wailed flinging his arms around in a panic at the remembrance of leaving one of his friends behind in a fan girl infested mall.

A pause…and then-

"Gary…?"

"Oh, well…look at that."

"Hn."

"Sure looks like it."

"Good."

"He'll survive."

Ash nearly fell down the stairs at the responses he'd received from May, Drew, Paul, Dawn, Leaf and Misty respectively.

"Goodness, it's so nice to know I have such caring and concerned friends."

Ash leaned on the bannister in partial relief as Gary walked in through the kitchen as if he were cued. "Gary, you're alive!"

"Darn it." Leaf deadpanned as she looked up from the midst of braiding her brown hair to glance at Gary.

"I'm hurt Leaf," Gary gasped, feigning shock. "Didn't you miss me?"

As Leaf glared Gary down, the answer "no" evident in her eyes, Gary proceeded to turn towards the couch Drew and Paul were seated on with a smirk. "By the way guys, come over here for a moment. I have a proposition for you."

Drew narrowed his eyes in slight suspicion as he stood from his spot and strolled over to where Gary was still standing in the kitchen. Paul soon followed, and Ash hurried down the stairs to join them. May watched them curiously for a moment before turning back to the other girls. "What do you think they're up to?"

Misty shrugged. "Probably nothing good, that's for sure."

As Leaf nodded in agreement, shooting a quick look over at the now huddled up boys, Dawn spoke up. "Putting that aside, what're we doing for dinner?"

Leaf thought for a moment. "Well we bought all those groceries yesterday…maybe we should cook something up to eat."

"None of us how to cook though except for you," Dawn pointed out with a sweatdrop.

Leaf fisted a hand in determination and looked over at her friends. "We can all do it if we try!"

Dawn and May thought for a moment then shuddered as memories of burnt turkey and flaming ovens from a failed dinner came to mind. Then May sat up straighter as she remembered something. "Hey! We could always force Drew to cook for us instead!"

"He cooks?" Leaf and Dawn asked incredulously.

"I know right?"

Meanwhile, Misty was busy observing the huddled up guys. Wondering what their plan was, she watched as Gary revealed a piece of paper for the boys to see, watched as Drew paled, and watched as Ash seemingly tried to make a break for it, only to be dragged back into the group by Gary. Oh boy. Misty had a feeling that whatever was about to happen probably wouldn't go down all that peacefully.

Finally, the group of guys broke apart and Misty caught sight of a smirk upon Gary's face as the four made their way back into the living room.

This couldn't be good.

"Hey grasshead," May waved at Drew to get his attention. "Make us dinner!"

Drew flicked his hair and smirked. "What am I, your slave? Anyways, it turns out I've got much more interesting plans for the night."

May's face fell as little as all hope of their house eating a somewhat decent meal fled her. "Why, what're you doing?"

As all four girls stared at him in question, Drew's composure changed slightly as he gulped in a sudden nervous manner. Then he lurched forwards as Gary clapped him on the back with perhaps too much force. The latter grinned cheekily as he turned towards May.

"While I was at the mall, I found us boys some lovely ladies to take out to dinner tonight," Gary announced, still grinning as he side glanced at Leaf.

The girls stared at Gary in disbelief. Then Misty stood from her couch impulsively as she slowly lifted a finger to point towards Ash. "You convinced Ash to go on a dinner date?"

Ash blushed slightly. "Well, he said that she was nice…and there's good food at the place we're going to, so…"

Misty rolled her eyes at the typical reason. She shouldn't be worried; Ash would probably end up paying closer attention to his food rather than his date. But still, Misty couldn't help but wonder what kind of girl he was going to be set up with…

"Seriously?"

A voice cut into her thoughts. Turning her head, Misty spotted May interrogating Drew who was flicking his hair at her. "You're just going to go on a date with some chick and leave us to starve?"

"Look," Drew muttered with a sigh, for once not bearing his classic smirk, as he tried to explain. "This wasn't my idea. Trust me, if I had my way I would stay and cook for you…"

May blinked before relenting to a small smile. "Really?"

"…Only to prevent you from trying to cook and burning the house down in the process." Drew finished.

May narrowed her eyes at Drew but couldn't retaliate; she had to admit-his words were the truth. Drew smirked and gave a trademark flick of his hair. "No worries airhead, you'll survive. But still, don't try to cook anything while we're gone."

She huffed at him. "I won't."

Drew's smirk melted into somewhat of a half-smile as he looked down at the pouting brunette in front of him. Reaching over, he ruffled her hair teasingly, receiving an "eep!" in response. "There's a good May."

As May glared at him while trying to smooth down her messed hair, Dawn cut in from where she was still sitting in a sing-song voice. "That's cute you two."

While May blushed and Drew took a step back from the bandanna-haired girl, Paul sighed and gave Dawn a look from across the room. "Troublesome."

"What?" Dawn protested, refusing to look at Paul for fear of eye-contact. "It's true!"

Shaking his head at her need to meddle, Paul turned to Gary who at the moment was watching Leaf's reactions to the situation. Leaf, however, was completely ignoring everybody in the room and staring off into space.

Waving his hand slightly to get Gary's attention, Paul took out his keys from his pocket and jingled them around a little. "Come on, if we're going to go on this stupid date we'd better hurry up before we're late."

Gary gave one last look over at Leaf before turning to the other boys with a nod. "Let's get going."

"Wait, you guys drove here?" May asked Drew as he turned to leave. He paused.

"Yeah, we're all 16 with licenses, and I have a car, so why not?"

"…well."

"Drive safe you guys!" Misty called and flopped back down on the couch as the boys walked out the door.

"Gosh, I wish one of us had a car," May pouted as she slouched in her seat. Dawn nodded wistfully in agreement as she watched the boys backed out of the driveway and drove down the street.

There was a short silence as everyone sat, not knowing what to do. Then Leaf suddenly broke the silence. "So, what now?"

"Well," Misty began, standing up and wandering over to the kitchen, "we could continue to feast on leftover pizza and spaghetti from yesterday's dinner…"

"…Or?" May could sense an undertone of mischievousness in Misty's voice.

Misty grinned and held up a slip of paper from where it was left on the counter. "…We follow the guys, mess up their date and get good food in the process?"

May and Dawn exchanged glances before looking over at Leaf for her opinion. Leaf looked down at her folded hands for a moment before looking back up with a grin.

"Let's do this."

* * *

Minutes later, the four girls found themselves on the curb beside the highway, watching dozens of cars pass them by. Leaf glared out into the sea of four-wheeled contraptions.

"Remind me again why we're here?" Leaf turned to Misty who was fiddling with the slip of paper with the restaurant's address written on it.

Dawn gasped from where she was standing behind Leaf. "We're not hitchhiking are we?"

"No, of course not," Misty assured her while looking around at the lanes of oncoming traffic.

"Then what are you looking for Misty?" May asked, looking over Misty's shoulder to try and see what the red head was searching for.

Misty continued to scan the highway from left to right as her friends exchanged glances of curiosity. Then she snapped her fingers and pointed down the road. "There."

As Misty stuck two fingers in her mouth and let out a shrill whistle, May, Dawn and Leaf looked down the highway to see what their friend was talking about.

There it was; a little yellow taxi.

"Misty you're a genius!" Dawn grinned at her friend as the taxi pulled over to where the four friends were standing.

"Nah, it's actually just common sense," Misty said airily as she opened the side of the taxi door. "Shall we?"

"We shall," May agreed, diving into the backseat of the taxi. Once all four friends had climbed into the vehicle, Misty handed the address over to the taxi driver. After giving him a glance, he was deemed to be an older-looking man in his 80's, greying hair covered up by a hat with "Taxi" written on it, as well as a rather suspicious looking mustache. Said taxi driver opened his mouth to speak, revealing a grin that bore 2 missing teeth. "What's this say girlie?"

"It's 536 Main Street," Dawn piped up from the backseat.

"…And step on it!" May finished.

* * *

Three things became apparent to Leaf right away.

1. They were going way too fast.

2. The taxi driver didn't seem like he could see.

3. She was going to _die_.

Following May's previous order, the taxi driver had indeed "stepped on it" and now the taxi was speeding along down the highway, surpassing multiple cars in its wake. Leaf desperately clutched onto her arm rests as if they were a lifeline as she stared out the front window in horror. This was a pretty bad circumstance to be sitting shotgun in.

"YEEEEEHAW!" the old driver threw his head back, redneck style.

"AGHHHHHHHHHHHH," in the rearview mirror, Leaf could catch a glimpse of Dawn and May holding onto each other for dear life as they screamed in fear.

"DO YOU EVEN HAVE A LICENSE?" Misty screamed at the taxi driver.

"What was that?" the taxi driver looked back towards Misty and away from the road, much to everyone's further horror. "I couldn't hear you!"

"I SAID-"

"SCREW LICENSES, JUST LOOK AT THE ROAD FOR HEAVENS' SAKE!" Leaf screamed at the driver, who miraculously heard her and put his gaze back to the highway.

There was a tense pause in which everyone stared out the windshield at their impending doom. Then May let out a shout. "There! There's Main Street!"

The toothless taxi driver squinted at where May was gesturing. "Where?"

"THERE!"

"There?"

"Yes there!"

"Alright, we'll go here."

"NO-"

It was too late at the old man made a sharp 90 degree turn into the wrong street. Leaf felt her stomach lurch as she was slammed against the car door from the abrupt turn. Her friends didn't fare too well either as she looked back to see them all pushed together into a painful mess. "Ow…"

Looking back out the window, her previous relief of almost making it to the restaurant alive gone, Leaf noticed something.

It was a one way street.

_And they were going the wrong way._

"AGH! Nklon! Efnireweurioeldd," she spluttered, pointing at the window.

"CAR!" Misty screeched hysterically as she translated Leaf's gibberish.

A blaring of car horns, terrified screams, and a crunch of snapping metal later, they barreled out of the one way street and into a back alleyway.

Leaf looked wide-eyed at the broken side rearview mirror. After staring at the broken metal for a moment, she turned around to see her friends scared stiff. This was not what any of them had bargained for.

Leaf was thrust to the side of the taxi again as the driver took 3 multiple sharp turns. Squeezing her eyes shut, she decided to just wait until either she died or the ride was over.

Thankfully, the end came sooner than she thought as about 10 seconds after she shut her eyes, she heard a screech of tires against the pavement and felt the car jerk to a halt.

"We're here," the old man yelled out cheerfully.

"Oh thank god," Leaf heard May mutter from behind her. Leaf slowly opened her eyes and sighed in relief as she saw they were somehow perfectly parallel parked outside of the restaurant they were looking for.

Shakily, she undid her seatbelt and opened the car door. Stepping out onto the oh-so-sweet ground, Leaf turned back to close the door. Before she did, the taxi driver leaned over to say something.

"You gals want me to wait around for ya?"

"No thanks," all four girls answered nervously in unison.

"Suit yourselves," the driver managed to say before Leaf threw the door closed.

As the taxi peeled off down the road precariously once more, Leaf exchanged relieved happy-to-be-alive hugs with her friends. Then, after they'd finished embracing their survival, Misty turned towards the restaurant where the boy that had caused it all was currently in. "Alright, let's go."

Taking up the lead, Leaf led her friends to the door. Opening the door, she let her friends in before she too entered the restaurant the boys had gone to for their date. Almost immediately after entering, she spotted Gary sitting at an 8 person table. Noting how the boys' backs were currently towards them so nobody had noticed their entrance, Leaf turned back to her friends and gave them a nod.

"How can I help you lovely ladies this evening?"

A smooth voice came from the front counter Leaf was currently standing beside. Turning to face the owner of the voice, Leaf came face to face with a rather handsome waiter.

"A table for four please," Misty replied from beside her with a smile that was returned just as warmly.

"Of course. Follow me please."

The waiter led them to a booth that conveniently turned out to be located right behind the table where the guys were sitting. He passed them all menus and offered up another charming smile that seemed to be directed to Misty specifically. "My name's Rudy and I'll be your server for tonight."

"Alright Rudy," Misty grinned up at him as her three friends exchanged knowing glances. "We'll probably need some time to figure out our orders."

"That's fine," Rudy replied, ripping out a page before tucking away a notepad he'd previously taken out. "I can take your orders later."

"But for now," he winked at Misty before setting down a piece of paper. "_You_, cutie, can take my number."

Misty blushed light pink as Rudy walked away to help another table, and Dawn squealed happily. "Misty, that guy was so hot! You have gotta call him!"

"Ah…I don't know…" Misty giggled, abashed.

The two were then shushed by Leaf. "Keep it down guys; the boys are right over there.

"And let's find out who the dates are," May added with a slight irritable growl to her voice.

Oh, right. The four girls all glanced over at the reason why they even bothered to come to the restaurant in the first place, and promptly gasped quietly at what they saw.

The boys' dates were none other than Cassie, Brianna, Ursula, and the girl Misty met at the surf shop; Melody.

* * *

Asdfghjkl; D:

You: "Two weeks, and this is all we get?"

Me: "I'm sorryyyy! D:"

Anyhow, I already have Chapter 9 halfway finished so I promise the next update will be much sooner than this one took!

Thanks again for all the lovely reviews I received from the last chapter. ^_^ It means a lot!

And I have officially decided on a name for the dog! It will be revealed soon…thanks to **EeveeLover123** for all of your suggestions! The chosen name is from your list of listness…guess which one. ;p

Things will get hectic next chapter when there's a faceoff in the restaurant. Will there be a food fight rematch between May and Brianna? Nope. But you'll find out what happens soon enough!

Until next time!


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: I DID IT. HERE'S A CHAPTER (balloons rain down). Oh, and lots of questions about Drew agreeing to the date with Brianna… XD Figured as much. Here's your answer for that…sort of.

* * *

Chapter Nine

All four girls gaped at who their housemates' dates were. Then, they all promptly held their menus up to cover their faces inconspicuously before beginning to converse.

"What is Ursula doing here?" Dawn hissed from behind the temporary menu barrier that hid the four friends from sight.

"Better yet, what are _all_ of them doing here?" May muttered in a lowered voice, peeking over her menu to check on the table they were creeping-not-so-creeping on. _And why on Earth would Drew agree to go on a date with _Brianna_ of all people?_

"And who's the girl across from Ash?" Leaf wondered out loud, turning to Misty.

"That's Melody," Misty sighed. "I met her at the mall. She's not like the other girls, she's actually really nice."

Looking at her friend's disheartened face, May tried to reassure her. "Don't worry Misty, I bet Ash doesn't even know her name."

"Plus, you and Ash look way cuter together." Dawn gave an encouraging wink.

Misty gave a small smile at that before turning back to the table. The other three girls followed her lead and watched the quadruple date commence.

"I wonder what they're talking about," May pondered as she watched Brianna laugh way too hard at something Drew said.

Leaf shrugged. "Who knows?"

* * *

"…And then I was like, that is _so_ not your color!"

As Ursula cackled at Cassie's story, Drew covered his face with his hand and slid down his seat a little. This was killing him.

"Oh Mister Drew," he peeked through his fingers to look at his "date" who was speaking to him, "I'm so glad you came on this date with me. You make me the happiest girl in the world!"

"Th-" Drew opened his mouth to let out a sarcastic remark, but one devious look from Gary beside him made him close his mouth and nod, plastering a fake smile on his face instead. As Brianna threw her head back to try and "giggle adorably", Drew felt his eye begin to twitch. _That's IT._

"I have to go to the bathroom," he announced, jumping up from his seat whilst glaring at Gary, daring him challenge him. As the two rather egoistical teenagers gave perplexing stares at each other, Ash also leaped from his seat. "I have to go too!"

Paul said nothing as he set down his glass of water and stood as well.

"You have to go too," Drew continued, drilling holes into Gary with his eyes. "…Don't you, Gary?"

Gary stared back for a moment longer before lowering his head with a sigh and getting up from his seat. "..Right."

"We'll be right back," Paul informed their dates unconvincingly as they all walked away from the table.

"Okay Paul," Ursula purred as Cassie nodded eagerly.

"I'll be waiting for you Mister Drew!" Brianna added in a sing song voice directed towards the green-haired boy.

As Drew urged his friends to hurry up in their whole walking-away-to-avoid-their-dates thing, Melody covered her face with a hand and shook her head. _They aren't coming back, are they?_

* * *

Dawn sipped on her water slowly as she watched Paul interact with Ursula. She could tell that he was uninterested from the one sided conversation from Ursula as well as how he was more interested in the bricks on the wall. Dawn gave a small smile to herself; she was rather relieved that Paul didn't show any signs of acknowledgement to Ursula. He obviously didn't like her right?

Then Dawn furrowed a brow as another thought came to mind. _But if he doesn't like her…why did he agree to go on the date with her?_

A sudden prod on her shoulder brought her back to her own table. "Look! They're leaving their table!"

Having her eyes follow the direction Leaf had just indicated, Dawn watched as the four boys got up from the table and began to speed-walk to the edge of the restaurant where the bathrooms were located. "Where are they going?"

Misty shrugged before lowering her menu back to the table. "Who knows?"

The girls all tossed their menus onto the table, being no longer worried about being spotted by the boys. Unfortunately, they _were _spotted by someone else.

"Well, well, well," Ursula snickered haughtily upon catching sight of Dawn and her friends. "Look who it is…"

"Ursula…" Dawn sighed. She really did _not_ want to put up with this right now.

"You're stalking Mister Drew!" Brianna gasped dramatically, leaping up from her seat while raising a finger to point at May accusingly.

"_I'm_ the stalker here?" May asked Brianna incredulously.

"Still in love with Gary huh?" Cassie sneered over at Leaf. The latter was furious and jumped out of her seat to meet Cassie's challenge. "Why on earth would you think that I'm still in love with that player?"

"Um, maybe because you're following him around like some lost puppy?"

"That is _not _the reason I'm here!"

Now, everyone was standing, heated from their own arguments. Misty stood off to the side with Melody, sweatdropping at the sight of her friends being locked in verbal combat with the guys' dates.

"So…how's it going?" Misty turned to Melody awkwardly.

Melody returned the same awkward smile. "Well…things could be better."

As the two non-chaos producing teenagers stood idly, Ursula began to shake salt onto Dawn's head in the background.

"…Salt? Really?" Dawn asked Ursula in disbelief, reaching up with a hand to sweep some of the tiny salty specks off her head. "Why the heck did you do that?"

"I was hoping you'd shrivel up like all the other leeches do," Ursula sneered at her in answer. Dawn just stood and stared at her somewhat rival for a moment, not sure how she should feel about the answer she'd just received.

"LIAR!"

The piercing voice of Cassie came in a screech. All the other quarreling teens in the room paused to watch the scene between Cassie and Leaf along with all fifty-and-some people in the restaurant who were already watching the group already.

"The only liar here is you, Cassie," Leaf nearly growled, glaring at the offending blonde-haired girl.

Said girl sniffed, sticking her nose up into the air. "Yeah _right_ Green, you're obviously_ so_ not over what happened_._"

"I…what are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about the time Gary chose me over your sorry self."

The feud became silent. Leaf began to feel a prickle from behind her eyes as the memory of what happened returned to her mind. Cassie smirked over at Leaf triumphantly.

…But the gleeful expression didn't last for long.

_SPLASH_

It was now near silent, with the exception of sounds of plates falling to the floor with a crash in the kitchen, and the scolding voice of a manager lecturing a no doubt new employee. Everything else in the restaurant was still except for the drops of water now dripping to the floor from Cassie's face and hair. Misty glared straight into Cassie's eyes from behind a hand that was now carrying a glass emptied of water. "I'd stop talking now if I were you."

Cassie gaped at Misty for a second, as what'd just happened settled in. Then-

"MY MAKEUP!" Cassie screeched, clawing at her face as if though it were melting away.

"Cass!" Brianna and Ursula scurried over to their comrade with readied mascara brushes already in hand.

"Oh goodness gracious," Leaf rolled her eyes, having recovered enough to let out a small grin at the three girls obsessing over their makeup emergency.

"Oh goodness gracious yourself," Cassie snapped back from underneath soaked blonde bangs.

"Um, excuse me…"

The noise paused as everyone turned to look at the waiter, Rudy, who was standing nearby with a platter of food and a sheepish smile. "Sorry to have to do this, but you're all disturbing our customers so I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"What?" Ursula cried, outraged. "Do you know who we are? You can't just throw us out like this!"

"Yeah!" Brianna agreed. "I'm still on my date with Mr. Drew!"

"I'm not moving from this very spot!"

"Yeah!"

As another man, presumably the manager, appeared at the scene, May sighed and rubbed her temples. "Well, might as well get my purse and get ready to head out the door."

Minutes later, all 8 girls found themselves stationed outside of the restaurant.

"Well, that's that," Misty sighed.

Cassie stomped her foot angrily. "This is all your fault Green!"

"Me?" Leaf asked incredulously.

"Guys," Melody interrupted before it could all escalate again. "Let's just go home, alright?"

Misty watched, expecting refusal, and was surprised when Cassie grumbled "Fine," and walked towards a bright pink convertible.

"The car's so pink," Dawn whispered in awe before regaining herself and turning to May. "So, what now?"

May shrugged as the pink vehicle peeled out of the parking lot after one last exchanged wave between Misty and Melody. "I have no idea how we're going to get home."

Just as the words left her mouth, the honking of a car horn travelled across the road to where the girls were standing. A vehicle pulled up in front of the 4 girls.

"Hey gals," the old taxi driver grinned up from behind the window. "Need a ride?"

Leaf facepalmed.

* * *

_Meanwhile, in the bathroom…_

"Alright," Drew continued to pace around. "How much longer do you think we have to act like teenage girls going to the bathroom together until those crazy chicks are gone?"

Paul shrugged. "I still say we push Gary to them and run."

"I dunno," Ash said mindlessly, trailing circles on the sink counter where he was leaning against. "My date wasn't too bad…I'd feel bad for ditching her."

"Do you even know her name?"

"…"

"Alright, point is," Drew interrupted. "This is all Gary's fault."

Accusational stares were immediately pointed towards Gary who sweatdropped. "What, no it wasn't…"

"If it weren't for you, we wouldn't have gotten stuck on this horrible group date," Drew deadpanned.

"Well, it really isn't too bad if you consider the food they have here…"

"Just stop Ash."

"Hey, guys, I'm sorry alright?" Gary brought back the attention. "If I had known her friends were your crazy obsessed fans, I would've just made it a single date instead of quadruple."

Ash frowned. "Why did you want to go on a date with the Cassie girl anyways?"

Drew flicked his hair and smirked. "Probably to try and make Leaf jealous."

"…Maybe," Gary admitted.

Paul rolled his eyes. "Even I know that's not the way to do it Gary."

"Well, whatever," the auburn haired boy retorted. "I've tried all the other methods and nothing good has come out of them."

"Yeah, yeah," Drew waved his hand in the air lazily. "But next time, leave us out of your plans."

"Oh come on," Gary smirked over at his green haired friend. "Don't tell me you weren't at all curious as to how May would react to your date."

With that, Drew gave a microscopic blush out of guilt as he flicked his hair. "Whatever. I'm only here because you freaking blackmailed me-"

"Same."

"Same!"

"-And if you say anything to her about that," Drew continued, ignoring the voices of the other two. "I will hurt you."

"…Heh."

"-and I'm bored," Paul announced monotonously as he stood up straight.

"Me too," Ash agreed with a sigh.

Gary reluctantly looked over at the door. "Well, guess we might as well head back now."

Drew felt his insides die a little. "Oh, great."

Slowly, the four boys exited the restroom and took their time making their way back to their table that they were previously sitting at. Upon arriving, they stared down at their dates. Or at least, their dates' empty chairs. Drew exchanged somewhat bewildered glances with Gary and Paul.

"Yes!"

Drew blinked and looked over at Ash. "What?"

"It came true!" the raven haired teen exclaimed happily.

"What did?" Gary inquired.

Ash beamed. "I wished for them to disappear. And they did!

* * *

A/N: Weirdest ending to the chapter ever? Yeah I think so.

And after a long and tedious month…I have created a lovely filler chapter for you guys.

-gets mobbed-

I'm sorry! D: Ever since school started, I've been getting involved in a lot of activities and I've just haven't had to time to work on this. But hey, I'm not quitting!

Anyhow, a while back I drew a picture that depicted a scene out of this fan fic actually. If you're interested in checking it out, the link will be posted on my profile page. I'm not much of an artist, it's more like a doodle that escalated quickly, but…I don't know, it's interesting to see my story in a picture I guess. Plus, everyone but May, Drew, Dawn, Paul, and Brianna are Slender people. XD But, I'd be honored if you'd go check it out anyways. :P

Oh and thanks to all of the awesome reviews I received in the last chapter! Those include **Drifted Daisy**, **L. **, **Mudkipster,** **maycontestdrew, eeveeluvr, Eeveelover123, Fprmr1, Unicess, Noxibus, Guest, improvise me,** and **Contestshipper16**! Thank you all so much!

And so I leave you now with this chapter, and I will hopefully return soon with another chapter!

Until next time!


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